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This is such a precious book! It's one to read in small bits, because it is so chock full of simple wisdom. Love it!

Andy Murry has a close relationship with his Lord and Savior, Jesus. He makes the point that we can only experience Christ by accepting that Jesus paid the price IN FULL for our unclean natures. Keeping rules of conduct is only a product of our FAITH. We are saved by GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST. GRACE IS AN UNEARNED AND UNDESERVED GIFT FROM GOD THROUGH CHRIST. AMEN!

Review by Richard W. Kelsey, PE and Author
Search "Powerful Wisdom for Powerful Writing,"
Amazon.com or AuthorHouse Publishers

Outstanding treatment on communion with Jesus. Very practical, accurate, useful in helping disciples to walk daily with the Lord.

I am a great fan of great devotional writing and Andrew Murray's "Abide In Christ" is one of my top choices along with a few, time-tested others (Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly, The Depths of Jesus Christ by Jeanne Guyon, The Spiritual Guide by Michael Molinos, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer).

I know of no other lesson that is as crucial to every child of God than learning to "Abide in Christ." And yet there is nothing easier than drifting along on a thousand other spiritual currents than "the one thing that is needful." Our lives can thus be so fragmented and parceled among so many competing demands that we have lost sight of Jesus Christ. And to no longer fix our eyes on Him is to lose sight of everything.

One of our greatest lacks today, both individually and corporately, is authentic, intimate, sustained encounter with Jesus Christ. We think all things are well as long as we are continuing to learn more "about" Him rather than "from" Him.

The bible itself has become an obstacle rather than an avenue to greater intimacy with our Lord. Again, we think all things are well as long as we are continuing to learn more about the bible rather than the One whom the bible writes. We think learning biblical principles for living is somehow adequate and what we are called to. But this is not the call of Jesus Christ on our hearts. "You search the scriptures," He said, "thinking that in them you have eternally life, but you won't come to Me that you might have life." But in many instances, just like our forebears, we think it sufficient to eat from the tree of the knowledge of "good and evil" rather than coming to Jesus, our tree of life, our bread of life, our water of life, our "all in all." And on the road to Emmaus, Jesus "pointed out to them all things in scripture that pointed to Him." In all of our bible reading, do we fix our eyes on Jesus?

The deepest longing of Jesus Christ is for closeness with us. In one place it says that Jesus cried with a loud voice saying "Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest!" We need to be reminded of this, often and daily.

Murray writes:

And observe especially, it was not that He said, "Come to Me and abide with Me," but, "Abide in me." The communion was not only to be unbroken, but most intimate and complete. He opened His arms to press you to His bosom; He opened His heart to welcome you there; He opened up all His divine fullness of life and love and offered to take you up into its fellowship to make you wholly one with Himself. "There was a depth of meaning you cannot yet realize in His words: "Abide in me."

Just what is this "depth of meaning?" What is this "unbroken, intimate, and complete" fellowship with Jesus Christ? What is this call to "inner communion" into the heart of our Lord? Do read this classic devotion "Abide In Christ" and discover some of the answers. Rediscover the ultimate call and central message of Jesus Christ to all those who have lost their way.

This was one of the greatest books on living in Christ I've ever read. Though tough reading, it still influences my prayer life today. If you haven't read it, you must!

I had a good time reading through this reprint of Morris Morgan's 1893 translation of Xenophon's "The Art of Horsemanship" (350 BC). Unlike many of the other ancient Greek translations and authors, this one is very easy to read.

The text itself is fairly short and reads quickly, sprinkled with wisdom. After the text is another short portion from 1893, which talks about "The Greek Riding-Horse", based on Xenophon and all the other available sources. Additionally, the footnotes to the text are quite interesting--I read them, for the most part, en block after reading the text.

As the title implies, the text is a very hands-on, practical guide to "everything you need to know" about how to take care of and look good riding a horse, reading like a "Horsemanship for Dummies" book. If you're interested in Ancient Greece and horses, you've got to read this short "instruction manual", though if you're only interested in the ancients, it's still fun to breeze through this text, nevertheless.

If more people took the time to educate themselves about horses and horsemanship in general and Xenophone's book in particular, perhaps we not see so many "show horses" of various popular breeds so physically manipulated by in breeding for only one or two specific traits rather than breeding for the whole horse. What was true in Ancient Greece is truer still today - without good feet, balance in the body and common sense a horse is worthless. Bravo to Amazon for bringing us this excellent book dirt cheap!

The material in this book is thousands of years old but amazing in how modern the approach is to horsemanship. Most of Xenophon's advice is timely even today. It shows how little has changed over the centuries.

This is a must if you are passionate about horses. It is so clear and to the essential point that it is a pleasure to read.

Xenophon covers several aspects of horsemanship, from grooming, leading, and choosing a horse, to mounting, riding, and training a war mount. Very, very interesting to see what is still applicable today. While this isn't a "training" or even a "horse care book," its a great historical reference from those interested in how horses we cared for and trained 2000 years ago. However, for those looking for a story or a book to teach riding skills, I suggest you look elsewhere. Those interested in dressage will find this worth-while, as it is considered the oldest text on the subject.

National Audubon Society Field Guides are the GREATEST! Thank you for this excellent book on the weather. This book is technical, but really gets into forcasting the wather.

I have given several of these as gifts to friends of a more scientific mindset, and they love it. They can pick it up and identify that odd thing over the mountain, and the haze around the moon. I have also used it many times for work. I can show a Director this book and he/she can say "I want that kind of sky!". Sure beats trying to create a sky from some vague mis-informed description of clouds they say years ago! I am about to give a copy to a director I'm working with right now, and that's why I'm here: to order it!. He loved the book today when I pushed it across the tabe to him, and it helped flag the clouds we'll use in his commercial. I recemmend it to anyone of a curious mindset, or for professional art direction. High quality binding too!

L.E.

This is a great book. We have several Audobon Society handbooks and love them all.

I believe this book was previously known as the Field Guide to Clouds, not sure exactly when the change took place but I'm glad to have finally re-found this book. What first allured me to this series when I was a child were the amazing photographs in the middle. Some very rare species of clouds all beautifully captured. The information contained within this book is very well organised, and as said in the title it fully lives up to its field guide reputation. By identifying the clouds you see in the sky via the photographs you can then follow the page number to the description of the formation and what weather you can expect from it. Alternatively, there are essays in the beginning describing several weather phenomenon and their life cycles, where they can be expected in North America and much much more.

This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in weather and particularly clouds. While made with North America in mind, anyone could enjoy this book especially the brilliant photography included with it.

What I find very valuable about this book is the fact that it is loaded with illustrations of different kinds of meteorological phenomena. For a pilot, it is important to understand what sort of weather you are going to be flying into. If you don't spend a lot of time studying meteorology, it can be difficult to conceptualize what kind of cloud formation is ahead of you. Some of the pilots' literature have rather weak illustrations.

This book is an excellent supplement to any pilot's training manual in providing visual aids for learning about spotting weather phenomnena.

Also, in general, it is very enjoyable to page through the book, as the quality of photography is very good.

This book was wonderful. Not everything applied to my situtation but it was very helpful in knowing what to expect. There were even some great tips that I shared with my husband. We even had some interesting chats regarding specifics of the book.

My wife and I purchased "Bearing the Big H", at one of Pattis' book signings. I was the first to read it. I was pleasently surprised and read it in a couple of nights. The " big H", is not something a man is normally knowledgeable about but it can drastically affect your relationship with loved ones. Ignorance is defenitely not bliss. My review? I've decided to purchase additional books for my parents(in their 80's), sister, and brother for Christmas gifts. Loved the book Patti!

Wanna laugh?..READ THIS BOOK! Wanna cry?.....READ THIS BOOK!
This author's wit and humor are both hilarious and heart tugging! This is not a medical journal on Hysterectomy, this is a very real and funny account of a very real and funny woman's journey through the BIG H. Laugh at her, laugh at yourself, but READ IT and be encouraged. Honest feelings and earthy humor make this book a delight!

As a retired nurse, I think the vast number of women who undergo removal of their uterus are usually well informed of the surgical procedure, the possible risks, and anatomical changes, but only a rare few are prepared for the hormonal frenzy that follows. Patti Pfeiffer's humorous--and sometimes heartbreaking--account of her surgery and the weeks that followed is a must read, not only for those who have had, or will have, a hysterectomy but for their spouses, too. Even those not involved in this medical dilemma will be amused by Ms. Pfeiffer's journey.

This book was both entertaining and enlightening! I would wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone facing the surgery, or anyone who just wants a good Venus/Mars laugh!

Score, Helaine, and Pixel travel to the planet Dondar. They help a herd unicorns of defeat the most powerful wizard of the planet, only to find their troubles are just beginning. I have read several of John Peel's books, and I think this is the best one. It's a real page turner. I wish I could give it six stars.

My daughter loves this series! She enjoys the adventure, magical powers and the good vs. evil aspect of each story. What can I say? She's reading and enjoying it!!! If you like stories about magic and adventure, you'll probably enjoy it!!!

This book was a thriller. It kept you guessing at everything. The stange pictures and wird names took me many days to figure out how to solve them. I have read the first two but this one explains every thing that you would need to know. Every page brought new suspence. I would recomend this book to anyone that likes action, and magic books.

Amazing. I have had my diadem set for 4 years, and I never tire of sitting on my couch and reading for yet another time, Diadem. John Peel writes with the feel and certaincy of an established writer, for that is who he is. The book is very, very good. Just a question, why is the fourth book so rare?

All the "Diadem" books are MUST READS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the over-all plot and wonder how Peel thinks of all the wonderful stuff he puts in his books. The Helaine, Score, and Pixel have interesting traits & personalities. People that give this book under four stars are out of there mind! I LOVE JHON PEEL'S BOOKS. He MUST write more "Diadem" books!! If you liked these book you'll love "The Secret of Dragonhome!!

I'd like to add my agreement to the rave reviews of other readers. I read the Pelbar Cycle when they first appeared some 25 years ago; I found them superlative then, and many aspects of them have stayed with me. I recently came across my old copies and began rereading them, to find myself equally delighted now. The stories are enthralling, the societies fascinating, and the characters quirky and multidimensional. And I very much like the emphasis on rationality and sanity in human relationships. My favorite book is "Song of the Axe", and I always regretted that Williams never wrote another novel about Tor's round-the-world journey!Another reviewer remarked that he would like to have met the author; I concur wholeheartedly! Glad to see that the books are again available. Five stars for the entire series!

The Pelbar Cycle are books that stick with you for a lifetime. I first read them in college almost twenty years ago and I just recently read the series again for the third time. The books are fun, adventurous, and a great summer read, but they also have an interesting moral center that makes me remember pieces of the narrative years later.

Though the book started of a little slow, the pace picked up and I couldn't put it down. It's a great story and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Here's a highly enthusiastic plug for Paul O Williams who wrote only two things:

* the 7 book Pelbar Cycle.
* The Gifts of the Gorboduc Vandal, since republished with a sequel in an omnibus volume called Man from Far Cloud.

Gifts is the only book that I've ever read more than a couple times, and it remains among my favorite novels of all-time. The Pelbar Cycle IMO is a highly underappreciated work, with highly original sequels that explore various aspects of that world. In essence, I think Book 1 can be read as a standalone but the rest of the books form a unified story.

Williams was not just your usual churn 'um out fantasy/sci-fi hack (sorry - I didn't feel this way before in my 20s but as I've gotten older I have far less tolerance for this stuff than I used to). He was an english professor (as the new introduction to the trade paperback Breaking of Northwall reveals) who happened to get an idea for book and submitted it, unsolicited, as a completed work to Del-Rey. They accepted, and the series then followed.

Let me add one little note - these are mature works. Pelbar (and Gorboduc, which essentially has many of the same elements in a new setting) is not only one of my all-time favorite series but also my father's. There is a depth to some of these characters that could have only come from the author's own inner strength, intelligence, and maturity. In essence, though I don't personally know Mr. Williams I wish I did. I think he'd be a terrific friend.

Originally published over 20 years ago by the Del Ray imprint, this book and its sequels have now been reissued as trade paperbacks by the University of Nebraska Press. Set in the midwest of the Mississippi Valley (the Heart River of the book), millenia in the future after a nuclear war, this book depicts the emergence of new civilizations controlling large swathes of North America. The author develops several different urban and tribal cultures, all with distinctive features, uses a bildungsroman type of plot to expose the readers to the various cultures, and then ties them together with an adventure story - romance involving inter-cultural warfare. Written decently and with a good degree of imagination. This is a stand alone book. I suspect the author wrote this book and after its success developed the rest of the series which are more interdependent. The University of Nebraska Press deserves considerable credit for bringing out relatively obscure but worthy books like this one.

The Children of the Lens are the culmination of the Arisian breeding program, and are to be their weapons in the final assault on Eddore.

Kimball Kinnison and Clarissa MacDougall have had four children. Born with the abilities Kim possesses, these kids will become the 'third stage' with an ability to join their minds in an all-powerful gestalt.

They are talented enough that they can shadow the Second Stage Lensmen without them knowing, and help them out. Each of the four has a favorite among the Second Stage Lensmen, even if they won't admit it.

This book has a different feel, in that it is a tiny bit focused on family, and the mental war part of it means the insane space battles are a much smaller part of the whole thing.

The end is the final battle between the Arisians and the Eddorians, with the third-stage Kinnison gestalt as an important part of the assault.

Afterwards, what the Arisians tells the Children comes as a bit of a surprise.

All six books went fast and furious...but what reading!!! Terrific stuff! Smith definitely had the jets to tell one of the best yarns in all of science fiction. All the other reviewers citing how later movies, series, and stories were influenced by these books...WERE RIGHT!!! One of the best science fiction series you will ever read. Period.

Galaxies wide adventure. This is the last book of the Lensman series. While the book can stand alone, the earlier Lensman books lead up to this conclusion where the combined mind powers of the Lensman children, together with super science manage to defeat the super villains for the victory of good over evil.
E.E. Smith wrote these books around the middle of the century, and some of the writing style appears less sophisticated than current authors. However, I enjoyed the extremely positive depiction of the human nature and future - similarly to what the author did this in the Skylark series. Highly recommended..

Having started the six book series with Triplanetary and ending here, I thought the series started to trail off after Galactic Patrol. Triplanetary has been heavily criticized as giving away too much of the series and of the pro- and antagonists too soon. However when the Eddorians are finally confronted here I didn't feel as much as a build up to their powers as Triplanetary instilled. In Triplanetary you really felt that the Eddorians were almost omnipotent beings and the task before the Arisians in seeding planets, including Earth, preparing for the eventual confrontation to save Civilization. Galactic Patrol really carried on the beginning of the series with Kimball Kinnison, but I thought the quality dwindled starting with Gray Lensman and the dated 50's slang really picked up then. It's not just because it's written in the 50's, I've recently read several works by Alfred Bester, Arthur C. Clarke, and others written in the 50's and they have no where near this level of 50's slang.

Another thing I started to find unappealing is Smith's heavy regard for the `wide girth' of Kinnison and of his space-ax swinging cohorts. In reality, strong ambition comes often from those that have not been so physically gifted in life and so have to fight their entire lives against people's initial reactions to their appearance. Lois McMaster Bujold's Mountains of Mourning of a diminutive protagonist's personal battle against his grandfather's attitude, and possible disgust, of his physical stature comes to mind. So it is with irony that I can picture some skinny kid sitting outside in the 50's reading this book and `barrel-shaped chests" as the big neighbor kids come up to him and say `hey poindexter, whatcha reading...' or something.

However, the originality, and impact this series had upon science fiction cannot be understated and is why I am giving it a respectable four stars. Several reviewers have mentioned that they can see scenes from Star Wars lifted from this series. What I see even more so is what Star Trek lifted from this series. Even down to small details such as a ship having to lower shields in order to fire a weapon against an enemy. And many other movies, tv shows, and books influenced comes to mind including Alien, The 5th Element, Heinlein, certainly the original Star Trek as well as the Next Generation and Deep
Space 9, Wing Commander and others.

255 Pages, Publ 1954.

I have read this series at least 4 times. If you like SCIFI, you will cherish these books and buy the whole collection (as I did).

I was looking for ideas on simple structures for the homestead. The book is a bit dated, but you have to go back to find simple, uncomplicated ideas. We have grown so accustomed to specialized fasteners, tools and other hardware. Building a simple shed can be expensive when you have to buy materials. We have an abundance of raw materials and this book provided some ideas towards cost effective structures.

This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

I know that most people will find this book to be anything but "green" however, I found this concept to be perfect in a world that sometimes forgets what it is like to be young at heart. Some of the shelters are not safe and one should always supervise young children who if left alone will build forts and such, yet there is a certain allure about thinking you are back in time and surviving on your own wits. Great ideas for survival campouts or if you like getting out "there" and just might once or twice get too far out "there" and find yourself in the need of an overnight shelter. Loved the book and will use or adapt many of the detailed plans.

This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

This book is geared towards building structures that were used by outdoorsmen from years past. It covers how to make a bed from natural materials, a log cabin, Native American log house, and how to work an axe just to name a few topics covered in this book. The drawings of the dwellings in the book are simple (but not in depth plans or charts). The author does a great job of explaining how to construct these devices, but as I said a drawn picture is all your going to get if your a visual learner. Over all the book does what it says it will do, gives the reader good information, and I personally wouldn't be caught dead without it if I was trapped in the middle of nowhere by myself.

This book was purchased for a college research project and it was just perfect. It talks of Kandinsky's color theory and how music and color co-exist. The seller was professional and I got the book when it was promised. I would order from this seller again...definately!

Wassilly Kadinsky was a 20th century painter and his CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN ART provides a blend of philosophical, spiritual and artistic reflection as it examines the premises and presence of spirituality in art. This new edition is a recommended pick not just for art students of modernism, but for readers of spiritual works: it includes letters between Kadinsky and Sadler, unpublished prose poems, and a fine attention to artistic reflection and analysis.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I enjoyed reading the book. At times it was over my head,but still it was worth the effort!!!!

Kandinsky throws his ideas out in a slightly esoteric manner. It make take a few rereads to really grasp the quality of discourse he presents. But, in the end, his commentary shines brightly through his comparisons of music to painting. The spiritual triangle is comparable to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is important to remember that Kandinsky is not using the term "spiritual" in a religious sense.
This book is a very good read for anyone feeling slumped in their art making. And for anyone who wants to expose themselves to ways of thinking about art. By the third time I had read the material I had underlined and highlighted almost every line and filled all the margins with notes. The book is fantastic. It is especially good when paired with Hans Hofmann's essay "In Search for the Real." Although the ideas in the two books do not parallel. In fact the lines aren't even on the same page. Kandinksky's critiques of other familiar artists are very interesting too. Names like picasso and Cezanne pop up quite a bit.
I'll stop rambling now. Read the book, it is very good.

Kandinsky had risen to positions of influence in other disciplines (political science/economics and law) before directing his considerable intellect to painting. His insights extended into the historic 'meta' trends of the arts and sciences, including the physical sciences, and had his interests been directed more to the history and philosophy of science instead of the history and philosophy of art, he might have written Kuhn's observations regarding paradigm change a half century before Kuhn did: "Here and there are people with eyes which can see, minds which can correlate. They say to themselves: 'If the science of the day before yesterday is rejected by the people of yesterday, and that of yesterday by us of today, is it not possible that what we call science now will be rejected by the men of tomorrow?' And the bravest of them answer, 'It is possible.'"

Instead, Kandinsky extended the frontiers of painting and authored philosophic writings on the future of art that are among the most important of such works. M.T.H. Sadler, who translated this work into English, was a friend of Kandinsky's and was among his early admirers. The notes he has written in the front of the book (Translator's Introduction) are therefore more helpful than could be the opinions of many other critics, including myself:

"Anyone who has studied Gauguin will be aware of the intense spiritual value of his work. The man is a preacher and a psychologist, universal by his very unorthodoxy, fundamental because he goes deeper than civilization. In his disciples this great element is wanting.

"Kandinsky has supplied the need. He is not only on the track of an art more purely spiritual than was conceived even by Gauguin, but he has achieved the final abandonment of all representative intention. In this way he combines in himself the spiritual and technical tendencies of one great branch of Post-Impressionism.

"The question most generally asked about Kandinsky's art is: 'What is he trying to do?' It is to be hoped that this book will do something towards answering the question. But it will not do everything. This--partly because it is impossible to put into words the whole of Kandinsky's ideal, partly because in his anxiety to state his case, to court criticism, the author has been tempted to formulate more than is wise. His analysis of colours and their effects on the spectator is not the real basis of his art, because, if it were, one could, with the help of a scientific manual, describe one's emotions before his pictures with perfect accuracy. And this is impossible.

"Kandinsky is painting music. That is to say, he has broken down the barrier between music and painting, and has isolated the pure emotion which, for want of a better name, we call the artistic emotion. Anyone who has listened to good music with any enjoyment will admit to an unmistakable but quite indefinable thrill. He will not be able, with sincerity, to say that such a passage gave him such visual impressions, or such a harmony roused in him such emotions. The effect of music is too subtle for words. And the same with this painting of Kandinsky's. Speaking for myself, to stand in front of some of his drawings or pictures gives a keener and more spiritual pleasure than any other kind of painting. But I could not express in the least what gives the pleasure. Presumably the lines and colours have the same effect as harmony and rhythm in music have on the truly musical. That psychology comes in no one can deny."

Some aspects of Kandinsky's color theory are dubious, at best they cannot be universalized, and Kandinsky sees this. But other of his ideas and arguments are widely accepted among artists, even as being self-evident. Stating that "there is no 'must' in art, because art is free," that is, free to address external representations OR "the inner need," to merely chase after material 'objects' OR to wrestle with the mysteriously spiritual, to somehow meld the two visions OR to stay purely to exploration of the spiritual high ground, Kandinsky absolutely rejects the materialistic expectation of an art "explanation" that has been articulated by EO Wilson in his unfortunate daydream 'Consilience' (Wilson knows ants better than he knows humans, and is given to understanding humans to be essentially ant equivalents).

Anyone interested in art history, painting of the past century, or the relationships/correlations/divergences of the various arts (visual, musical, literary), as well as anyone interested in the meaning and purpose of art, or in the philosophy of aesthetics, should read this important book, perhaps more than once.

If you appreciate an 'old fashioned' tale free of graphic intimacy and violence, if you appreciate vivid description, romance and intrigue this is for you. I read all but one of Mary Stewart's books in my early twenty's through late thirties. Now, nearing seventy, I am rereading them and cherishing the stories I read in my young years. I have divested myself of hundreds of books. Mary Stewart's remain a constant. "Wildfire at Midnight" tells of a young divorcee, unusual in Ms. Stewart's books, traveling to the Isle of Skye to recover from and get over her ex. BUT...he is in the same hotel on the remote Isle. Like many of Ms. Stewart's work murder has been done, intrigue and danger abound and one is constantly wondering WHO DID IT? a good read.

I loved this book! It is a great example of Mary Stewart's ability to create suspense and atmosphere in writing. I only wish that she would write another book sometime. I don't even know if she is still around.

This was the first Mary Stewart I read and I was hooked. It is still a favorite along with Madam Will You Talk and The Ivy Tree. The author is masterly in setting up the suspence and romance along with compelling action.
In Wildfire at Midnight, the setting is the Isle of Skye and the tension becomes quite frightening as the heroine feels drawn to a possible murderer. Someone is committing ritual murders on the mountainside and the murderer is likely one of the guests at the remote lodge.

This is a very good book, but the first chapter is a beautifully polished gem. The description of the heroine's look-alike but very different ancestor is unforgetable: "the Vixen Venus ...a Beauty in the days when beauties had a capital B, and were moreover apt to regard beauty and capital as one and the same thing."

Some books are like relatives. You love them despite their lack of perfection. Perhaps they are better than other books in the ways that count - with characters who truly live in their pages and your imagination. Or perhaps they become alive because they transcend the confines of genre fiction and have the complexity of real life.

I love this book, and the author's Nine Coaches Waiting, but both books raise issues about love and trust that I don't think they resolve realistically. However, it is probably my persistent re-reading of the books that caused me to see flaws the casual reader would not.

When I was a child in the 1970s we were on a holiday on the west coast of Scotland and by chance, taking refuge in the car from the torrential summer downpour in the barren square of Portree, my father turned on the radio. What came on was a creepy, disturbing drama set on Skye. A young woman, the only visitor to this country hotel not on the suspect list for a grizzly murder is sitting in the dead of night by the unconscious body of another would-be victim of the murderer. "How appropriate!" my mother laughed, and we listened on. The landscape of the story was the same landscape that was around me, though I couldn't see it for the rain, and there were strange characters, a crazed climber, beltane fires and murder. I thought it was great and it really, really stayed with me. It was years later that I read Wildfire at Midnight and realised that this was the self-same story I'd heard as a child. It's cracking, unashamedly romantic, but really rather well written. A good read for a sick day tucked up on the sofa, or a quiet night in. Mary Stewart's great - if only new pulp fiction could manage the same alluring balance of literary poise and good swash-buckling plots. No one else does it as well.