Series Books

Nutshell review - Another great book by Ed Skoudis. Covers all the popular attack vectors and a variety of possible defence techniques. A solid book from which further study and investigation can be undertaken. Management people should read this too.

Counter Hack Reloaded (CHR) is an excellent book for someone looking for a broad overview of computer/network security written in a very clear, logical, and even enjoyable manner.

After CHR's Introductory chapter, the reader is given an overview on Networking, Linux/Unix, and Windows. These three chapters give the reader enough to be able to understand the subsequent chapters which deal with specific phases of an attack. These phases are, Reconnaissance, Scanning, Gaining Access (with different chapters for different methods of gaining access,) Maintaining Access, and Covering Tracks. Throughout these chapters, CHR introduces the reader to the tools used by attackers; how they work, where to get them, and how to defend yourself against them (often by using the tools themselves.) Finally, CHR "puts it all together" with different scenarios of attacks. The scenarios show how attackers use different phases of an attack, and different tools, to penetrate a network/system. Throughout this chapter CHR highlights the mistakes the victims make in their networks/systems to allow the attacks to succeed.

CHR is exceptionally well written, especially for a technical subject. Explanations of complex topics are clear, simple and even entertaining. I would even go so far to say that it is a joy to read.

Overall, CHR is about core concepts. It's about understanding how attacks occur, and understanding why they can succeed. Only then can you have any hope in understanding how to go about defending yourself.

I'm technically not finished reading this book yet and probably never will be until they update it again and still it will be a good reference manual for several years anyway. Skoudis and Liston do have a way of making complex issues seem to make sense. I thank them for writing it and thank Amazon for making it available to me.

It was an easy read, as far as the writing itself. It wasn't too dry, but in some places there was too much information all at once. I've only read the first 350 pages or so, but I can say for sure that Chapter 6 should have been cut into 2 or 3 chapters. The sheer ammount of material covered in those 100 pages or so was too much to be taken all at once.

Most of the tools in this book are widely used and known, but the reason that this book is so interesting is that it describes how you can defend yourself from attacks with such tools.

Therefore this is a very good reference book.

I am a K-5 school librarian and am always looking for good books to recommend to my students. This series is truly excellent!

This second book of the "Underland Chronicles" continues the journey of Gregor and his baby sister Boots. Meeting new characters and encountering more tests for all involved. The author weaves a wonderful tale and my son absolutely adores all the characters. I also enjoy reading this series to him, we both become very caught up within the stories and with all the characters...it's hard to put down!

For the third time, Gregor and his little sister Boots descend to the Underland to fulfill an ancient prophecy. In this story the Curse of the Warm-bloods is a terrible plague that threatens every mammal in the Underland. On their journey to find cure, the heroes encounter Luxa, her bat Aurora and Hamnet, Luxa`s long-lost uncle. Although I enjoyed it, the story jumps around far too often and also fails to answer questions from previous books. As one and two were okay but not great and this one is only so-so I don't think I'll read any others.

I've read the last two Gregors and when I finished them i couldn't wait until the third. Collins is a genius. The last two have been about the usual stuff you read in these kind of books today but this took it to a whole new level. Theres plenty of violence for those of you who don't like sissy books and plenty of action that will keep you on the edge of your seat through the whole book. This in my opinion and out of all the books I've read this could be the book of the year.

Having listened to the first two books on audio and loved them, I continued with the third book "curse of the warmbloods" On CD. I love it when a childrens series continues to grow, in both content , character maturity and overall plot wise. I have read books before that seem to go nowhere with ever installment and I quickly tire of those.

This book, is my favorite out of the three so far. The first one "Gregor the Overlander" correctly laid out the mythos and introduced the characters in a nonconfusing way (there are so many and types!) It made you want to read more. The second book "Prophecy of the Bane" continued where the first left off but wasnt as exciting or compelling. This third book launches Gregor back into the underland for another adventure and its all about true realities, growth, family and way darker than the first two, much like Prisoner of Azkaban is to the Harry Potter series.

Gregors family isnt just chilling in the overland allowing him to sew his wild oats underground, they are struggling with mental illness (because his father was tortured by the rats) Money issues (his mom has to be the sole breadwinner) His sister is scared to death of losing her family wouldnt you be if three of them just dissappeared underground and came back talking of giant rats, squids, roaches, and bats? The underlanders of course eventually need Gregor, but his Mother puts her foot down and says NO! Not even to help them out with a Plague that is killing them and Gregor is the "one" to find the cure according to another prophecy.

What takes place after that is truly scary, and exciting and heartwarming. More characters are introduced, and we lose more along the way. I rushed out and got the fourth Audio CD's as soon as I could!

It was a great book! i read it when i was 11. I could really connect with Zoe (the main character). It doesn't talk about boys. so, if you want a kind and nice friendship book you should get this one!!!! I loved it, so, so will you!!!

I read this book when I was 13 years old. I absolutely loved it at the time. I could relate to all of the characters because they were just like my friends. And the plot completely reflected life as a preteen or how I wished my life could be. I will be 20 next month and I still remember this series of books being one of my favorites as a young teen. I would also recommend the California Diaries to anyone who enjoyed this series as they were also a favorite of mine.

on reading this book you would seriously have the feeling that you are actually reading a secret diary of a 12yr old. anybody from age 10-14yrs can relate to zoe's character of being tomboyish and feeling clumsy & unpretty at some stage or the other.this is a must read for all the teenage crowd who have less than sqeaky clean lives.rachel vail is the best!

This book was awesome. It is about a girl who was always considered one of the guys. All of a sudden, she finds herself becoming attracted to Tommy Levit, her next-door nieghbor, and wearing tight tops to school. She asks Tommy who he likes, and it turns her life upside down, because CJ Hurley, who she wants to be her best friend, likes him too. Did she make a big mistake?
I think that Rachel Vail is an awesome author. If you like this book, you should read all the books by her.

"When you're the yougest of five girls,nothing's your own" that's the first sentence of the book.Zoe Grandon is the fifth child in the Grandon family. she has heroldest sister,Anne Marie's mouth, her second oldest sister Bay's hair. But unfortunately, she has her mom's behind. Zoe is friends with everyone.Even boys.Zoe is kind spirited and friendly.Zoe has a crush on herf riend,Tommy. But her almost best friend, C.J,has a crush on him too! Zoe can't decide whether to she should go after Tommy or let C.J have him. But she finally decides that since C.J liked him first,C.J should have Tommy. But does Tommy like Zoe? Or does Tommy likeC.J? What if he doesn't like any of them?

I first chose this book when I saw my friend reading it. The cover was a picture of a girl holding a tennis racket in her hand.I read the blurb and I was hooked. But I was confused too. In the blurb,there was this word, hormones.What does it mean?I asked my teacher, Mr.Carbone.I found out that hormones means something in your body that makes you act differently and behave differemtly.I was still puzzled.As I read more, I understood what it meant.I really like this book and I want to read the other books in the series. It's a very good book and I know other people would enjoy it.

When Zoe let CJ have Tommy, I was angry.If Iwas Zoe, I would go after Tommy. After all, so what if CJ liked Tommy first? Zoe KNEW Tommy first. Zoe is just too friendly to hurt CJ's feelings. Another book, "Kitty in High School" is about the same thing. Kitty likes a boy named Skip. Kitty wasn't sure if she should ask Skip to the dance, and when Kitty makes up her mind, Skip is taken by her best friend. So if Zoe doesn't go and try to win Tommy back,she'll never get the chance!

My favorite part in this book is the whole book, so there's not much to explain, is there?

I would recommend this book to people who are ready to learn about growing up. If you are like zoe and you have a crush on someone, read this book and you might learn something.

This book was excellent in giving us advice for which rides to ride, which rides to skip, which places to eat at, and which places to skip (because of the cost, haha). It even has fold out maps so we didn't have to get them separately and tote them all around, and they were very helpful--we used them every day. It also tells you the costs of all the hotels, if you're looking for that, as well. We especially enjoyed Port Orleans French Quarter. This book even has a special place for character autographs for your children so you don't have to buy one for $10! Buy this book and enjoy your trip even more!

I received my copy today of the Passporter 2005. This will be our first trip to WDW and now we are even more excited after reading through this book!!! I love that it is so compact, yet FULL of helpful information. Also, I like that the book can be closed so nothing will fall out. It is perfect to take into the Parks. It is like the Walt Disney World "Bible". A must for first time travelers to WDW!!!!

This is a wonderful book. It is cleverly written and organized with lots of ample room for the reader to journal, take notes and store paper momentos. I can hardly wait to take this with me on our Walt Disney World Vacation in a few short weeks. The authors have provided AWESOME information to make sure that my family has a great vacation. If you are looking for the perfect tour guide to WDW this is it!

I LOVE this book!!! I live in FL but hadn't been to Disney in years, so I decided to buy a planning book before our big trip. Well, I sure got more than I bargained for with this book. It has useful information about every resort, restaurant and ride...and more! The passporter pockets make it convenient to store your hotel confirmations, priority seating confirmations and tickets prior to your trip. The fold-out maps are great too!

In addition to the wealth of information provided in the book, Jennifer and Dave have a wonderful website that I highly recommend for more information about Disney, including updates to the book. If you are planning a Disney trip OR if you just love WDW, GET THIS BOOK. I can't say enough about it.

If you have read any of the other reviews you already know this series inspires strong praise and I agree with all of it. I'd like to add one more reason to appreciate this book- there is NO approximation of the WDW LOGO! you may be wondering why that would be a good thing so I'll tell you. We have a 4year old who can not read yet but has the brand recognition skills of a savant- I have had this book for a few days and not a shread of curiosity about it yet. Which translates into PEACEFUL planning. We won't be tackling the mouse till Dec. and I don't think I can stand almost 3 months of "IS IT TIME YET?????"

I really enjoyed this book, the story is the classical tragic love story, but set up in Japan, and written through a Japanese point of view. So the surroundings or the landscapes became part of the story, the description of the moods of the characters are beautifully portrayed in the nature that surrounds them.... I thought it was lovely.

A lot of people wrote on these reviews that the translated version misses out a lot of things, but this always happens when translating, and as I can't read Japanese, I was happy with being able to read it in English!

Japan. 1912. Japanese society is divided, or at least complex. Still with most of it's body and soul in the ancient tradition of the East, but with ever increasing impulses towards the "Western culture" (In the unsemitically correct reality, we of the "West" have infinitely more in common with the traditional culture of the East than we do the current world-wide Weimar Republic, but oh well). Mishima, the author, was more or less a Japanese representative of the "conservative revolution", and appears to have been quite well read. His life reminds me in many ways of Corneliu Codreanu and Julius Evola. His well-known dramatic ritual suicide as a protest against the betrayal of tradition in Japan, and the Japanese submission to American rule, followed him and his radical "right wing" organization's (The Shield Society) failure to arouse the Japanese Defence Force into rebelling.

The book is the first in a tetralogy, and follows Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young student from a family of the lower nobility in his relationship with Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of one of the 28 families of the higher nobility, her being the daughter of a count. The book in many ways actually reminded me of the excellent "Victoria" by Knut Hamsun, with the constant back and forth in the interaction between the characters, sometimes they love each other dearly, and at other times torment each other. Such is the nature of difficult relationships, I guess! The book paints a very vivid picture of the end of a noble era, and the translation I read was excellently done. The moral teaching of this period, and it's sometimes less noble effects is excellently portrayed.

Through certain misunderstandings, Satoko ends up being future wife of one of the royal princes, and Kiyoaki is driven to despair. Long story short, as all the books in the series, there is no happy ending, but that is basically the ending of all our lives. This is a book I highly recommend, and apart from a few minor flaws, it is all in all an excellent tale, and I look very much forward to reading the rest of the series. 4,5 stars.

(I read a different edition)

Maybe it was a bad transalation. Maybe I could not relate as a westerner to an old Japanese story, but I really did not enjoy this book. It was maudlin and unbelievable. Story was boring. Character development was terrible and it was poorly written/transalated. I recommend Murakami's Norwegian Wood for those who want to read books by Japanese authors.

Yukio Mishima (The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea) is the fascinating subject of two recent DVD releases Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection and Patriotism - Criterion Collection. His 1966 novel, Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki), is the first in his "Sea of Fertility tetralogy," which also includes Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971). (Mishima committed ritual suicide on the day he completed the final book in his tetralogy, November 25, 1970.) Considered to be his masteriece, Mishima's tetralogy follows the successive reincarnations of Kiyoaki Matsugae (1895-1914). Set in the early years of the Taishô period (1912 to 1926), Spring Snow tells the story of a two-year relationship involving forbidden love between Kiyoaki, the 18-year-old son of an aristocratic family, and Satoko Ayakura, the 20-year-old daughter of an aristocratic family. Kiyoaki's friend, Shigekuni Honda, a law student, observes the events set forth in the novel. After Kiyoaki and Satoko meet under a bad omen: a dead black dog at the top of a high waterfall, Satoko asks Kiyoaki, "Kiyo, what would you do if all of a sudden I weren't here any more?"--a question which vexes Kiyoaki throughout much of the novel. Satoko is under instruction that she should not lose her virginity before being touched by any bridegroom chosen for her. After experiencing their first kiss together on a rickshaw ride in the snow, Satoko and Kiyoaki exchange love letters and eventually make love, before Satoko accepts the marriage proposal of another man, Prince Harunori. Meanwhile, Kiyoaki has a series of prophetic dreams before he dies at the age of 20. The novel was adapted into a 2005 film of the same name starring Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kiyoaki, Yûko Takeuchi as Satoko, and Sosuke Takaoka as Shigekuni Honda. Spring Snow attests to the rare genius of Yukio Mishima.

G. Merritt

Mishima's Spring Snow is a coming-of-age tale for nouveau riche Kiyoaki, whose naive childhood crush on the more mature Satoko grows into something much more powerful, beautiful and, ultimately, destructive. Kiyoaki's failings are human and familiar; acting on rash impulses, immaturity, a failure to realise what he wants till he has lost it. Mishima's characterisation is finely drawn and accurate. The scheming Tadeshina turns out to have her own secret heartbreak, enervated Ayakura lacks guile but not luck, the ancient loyalties of the Abessess make her a formidable eminence grice. The characters are at once individually drawn and representative of a unique and fascinating era of flux and change in Japan, as ancient modes of behaviour gave way to modernising forces. Mishima's novel is both of its time and timeless. A true masterpiece.

This is probably my favorite book in the whole series. Wonder a thoroughbred filly, is ruined during training but Ashleigh Griffen, a 13-year old girl, Charlie, a retired trainer and Jilly, a young jockey believe she still has potential. They work hard with her and the ending is so wonderful and relieving.

this is probably my favorite book of the whole series!(not that i've read them all) It's great, great, great! So...I would defintely reccomend this to any1!

A boy, Digory, and a girl, Polly, are friends who have a secret place by Digory's uncle's attic, and they accidentally stumble into his attic. Digory's uncle is a magician and he uses Digory and Polly as an experiment on his newest trick. He brought them to a different world and when they came back, Digory's uncle went with them for a second trip and ended up in a place called Narnia. They met talking animals and the king of the beasts have a mission for Digory and Polly. When they finish, they find out a witch has followed them and she is trying to take over that world. Digory and Polly make things a little easier on the animals, and bring Digory's uncle back home. Digory's mother was very sick, so he and Polly went back and got some healing medicine for her, but will it work?

Ashleigh is worried about Wonder after failing to get trained by somebody other than Ashleigh. When Wonder's trainer gives up, Ashleigh tries to train Wonder and soon she succeeds. At first Ashleigh was worried because Wonder threw her. It was hard for her to believe that the horse she had raised would do such a thing. When Wonder proved she could be a racehorse like her owner had hoped, he agreed to let Ashleigh train her thoroughly. Asheigh couldn't have been more happier till a jockey friend, Jilly, was chosen to race Wonder. The End.

This is a amazing book about hope for a little filly that only one girl has. Any horse crazy girl should read this book.

i was leery at first about this manga being so complex with so many character, i had to read each book two times slowly to get all the details. but this is so worth it, it has depth and even the secondary characters are great and filled out. i love kira and kato and set.it takes some concentration and effort but what a great story. i'm a vampire kind of a girl, i never knew heaven could be so evil.ha!if you only read one manga in your life, this should be it. it's totally TASTY!

I'm assuming that if you are reading a review for volume 13 of this series, you've already read volumes 1-12 and so a) know how great the series is and b) don't need any particularly good reason to read the next volume rather than skip straight on to volume 14. That said, I'll stick to an important and helpful matter: this is the North American English edition from Viz. Despite the cover art shown on the product page, which is from the Japanese edition, this is actually the English translation. Enjoy.

The series is still strong. If you have gotten this far you'll buy this manga.

I was turned onto this series just by it's beautiful artwork. The syle is truely unique and angelic...no wounder it's about angels.

The story starts off as a young teenage boy soon finds out that he is in love with is sister! As if that could be strange wait till you here this. The boy, Setsuna, is the re-incarnation of one of the most powerful angel's in history; and now people all over heaven and hell want him.

What will it take to convince Setsuna, that he is greatly needed by humanity...

I hope you thought this useful...

Hypnotic~

This book is mainly focused around Setsuna Mudo and his forbidden love with his little sister Sara. Things get complicated almost immediatly (as it has a plot, a subplot and lots of extras), angels, evils, monsters, evil cd-roms that kill you and craziness insue.

Basically Setsuna is the reincarnation of the Organic Fallen angel Alexial, who has three wings, incredible power and a physchotic twin brother, Rosiel who she 'failed' to kill in the great battle. His best friend is Kira, who seems to be guiding Setsuna, and has been following Alexial through her multiple rebirths. Sara, Setsuna's sister and lover seems like just a normal girl, but is she? Many other seemingly 'background' characters come into role and the whole story starts rolling.

The drawing is so beautiful, I've been turned into a complete Kaori Yuki worshipper. I own her artbook and have read lots of her other works (I recommend Godchild). The characters are so gorgeous, you'll fall in love with them.

The plot is very very twisted and intricate. You have to read the volumes in order, otherwise it will make no sense. I have reread the first few volumes many times to understand (the first volume especially, as the first few pages don't focus on Setsuna) I first read this when I was about 12, so it was desperatly confusing, but it gets easier to read as thigns start falling into place. It's one of those things where all of a sudden a lightbulb lights up and you totally understand everything that happened.

It's such a great manga, it's so gorgeous and has a gorgeous story to go a long with it, what more could you want?

The book opens with some US Vietnam war doctors looking at what should be a corpse, a man victim of the getting blown up thing. However, the body heals rapidly, which freaks them. It freaks them even more, when assisting with surgery to remove shrapnel they find a bronze age arrowhead. One of them has Casca's story inflicted on them.

Casca is part of the squad that executes Jesus, and because he wants to get back to a 'hot little Armenian dancer' he shoves a spear in to finish him off, given he was taking a long time kicking the bucket.

Jesus basically gives him a Chinese style curse telling him you will remain as you are then, if you are happy with it, or, you will live in a lot of interesting times.

Casca gets in a fight with a superior over the girl, ends up spending decades in a slave mine, helps out a supervisor, becomes a gladiator. Because of his immortality and work he is a lot stronger and more durable than a normal man.

Becomes a star gladiator, Nero gives him his freedom. After a two day bender he is busted by the vigiles doing the defecation and even worse abuse of a statue of Nero in the street, so Nero sends him to a slave galley. A few more decades of this, and his is back in a legion, having outlasted many emperors. Casca is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that is for sure.

So, some more war, and Casca is getting sick of it after looking over a battlefield with 50000 dead.

He tries the suicide thing, stabbing himself in the heart, but no joy. His body rapidly ejects the sword.

The end sees him fighting in Israel, versus Arabs, in a more modern time.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

This is one of the most original concepts a series has had in many years. Taking the story of the Roman soldier who speared Jesus on the cross and making him cursed to live forever until the Second Coming was an inspired idea. This then, is the story of that man having to travel through history forever fighting.

The great thing is that the series is now continuing under a new author who appears to have got things back to where Sadler wanted (forget 23 and 24). This story here is the first century or so of Casca's life, telling how he began to understand his condition and finding years as a slave had no effect on him, and he emerges stronger from it (maybe a touch of Nietzsche - or even Milton?) and finds there are pros and cons to eternal life.

The action is spaced nicely, no overdoing it, unlike some of the later books in the series. You can't help but feel for the protagonist, having to endure some dreadful situations and knowing there is no release of death for him.

This series by the author Barry Sadler is a modern blend of two ancient legends. The first is the legend of the roman centurion Longinus who was supposedly present at Christ's crucifixion.
He stabbed christ in the side with his spear to end his agony on the cross and afterwards he became a christian convert and a
saint.
The next legend is that of the wandering jew who was supposedly cursed by Christ to wander the world until the second coming.
The reason according to the story why he incurred the wrath of Christ was that he out of spite made a derogatory or insulting remark to Jesus as he was being led to his crucifixion.
The result of this blend has been Casca Longinus,a Roman soldier cursed by Christ to wander the world forever until the second coming.
Forever fighting,forever surviving and waiting for him to return.
This series of adventures takes our protagonist down through history from one war to another. In almost each case he endures wounds and horrible pain only to encounter more.
A strange unexplained power makes his flesh heal miraculously from all wounds inflicted and which renders it along with his blood poisonous to all other creatures man included.
His ability to outlive others makes his existence a lonely one without any lasting friendship or company. He finds himself in many cases the victim of other's brutality and hatred thus making his long existence also a harsh and violent one.
That which he desires so much eludes him and that is death,which is freedom from his brutal life and eternal peace. He is not so much a hero as he is a victim of fate in a situation not of his choice.
There is plenty of historic detail in this series much of it dealing with warfare and the military.
For those who want historic fact mixed with fiction this might be worth a try.
For fans of action adventure series in the tradition of "The Executioner" and the "A Team" this is a good recomendation.
There is plenty of fast-paced action in this series and it's guaranteed to keep you from yawning.
There are graphic descriptions of violence and gore so if if you're looking for light reading then I suggest reading Robert Fulghum instead.

Casca: The Eternal Mercenary is a series of twenty-two books written by Barry Sadler. This series is about a guy named Casca Rufio Longinus; he was cursed by Jesus Christ. The curse is "Soldier, you are content with what you are. Then that you shall remain until we meet again." The curse means that Casca will remain as a soldier until the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is a fantastic series so far. The first book in the series is extremely descriptive, interesting, and unpredictable.
Mr. Sadler, the author, describes everything in great detail; it is so descriptive that the reader will get hooked on the book until he/she is done with it, such as when Casca describes exactly what happened the day he killed Jesus Christ. Casca says that he and the other soldiers were betting on who would take the clothes of Jesus and the two thieves, who were killed the same day. He goes on to say how he speared Jesus in the rib cage to kill him quicker, and how when he did that some of Jesus' blood ran down the spear shaft got on his lips. That is when Jesus cursed him. Casca then goes on to describe what happened after he was cursed. He describes what illnesses, injuries, and punishments he has received or avoided as he goes through his life. He also recollects what women he has married and fallen in love with, and the women that his enemies raped and killed. Casca recalls his slavery and what life was like in slavery.
This book in the series is interesting because Casca, the main character, is a depicted soldier who fought in the Vietnam War in 1970. He was injured by a piece of shrapnel which exposed an area of his brain approximately four inches long and three inches wide. Casca's body was taking steps to protect itself from infections by rapidly healing the abscess in his skull. This amazed the army surgeons, a colonel, and a major. Major Goldman, one of the surgeons, discovered that Casca's blood was deadly poison. He also discovered that Casca could speak the Latin of the Caesars. These facts are intriguing because no person who has a wound as such could heal by itself and few people at that time could speak such a tongue. Casca explained to Major Goldman about how he was cursed. While in the hospital, Casca told Goldman that he had been alive before the birth of Jesus and that he was the one ordered to kill Jesus. These are just a few of the multiple points of interest in the first book. These interesting facts came out of the first chapter.
The reader can never predict what turn of events lie in store for the soldier who lives infinitely. Every new place he goes, he receives a new name. No one knows that he is the same legendary figure because few people know that he can not die. As one progresses through Casca's life, one starts to believe that he will be dead due to a stab wound, some type of poison or sickness he incurs, but he still lives on because of the curse. "Soldier, you are content with what you are. Then that you shall remain until we meet again."
This series, especially the first book arouses interest as it is interesting, descriptive, and unpredictable. I have had a wonderful experience in reading the series. I own all twenty-two books and have read the first seven so far. I recommend this series to anyone who is, has been or wants to be a soldier, or anyone who is interested in action/adventure books.

A while back a friend of mine mentioned something about a series of books following a man who is immortal, and this man was immortal because he was cursed to live forever by Christ as he was dying on the Cross. The man's name is Casca. Casca is a soldier of the Roman army around the time of Christ's death, sometime around 33 A.D. Casca is the soldier assigned to the mundane task of waiting for Jesus to die while he kept the small crowd around the Cross at bay. When told to finish the Jew off Casca stabs him in the side, just as the Bible tells it, but Jesus has a few words with Casca. The rest of Casca's life is then changed, and so the legend begins. Anyone interested in historical fiction and/or immortality should definitely read this book if not the entire series of 22 books spanning 2000 years.

In the Eternal Mercenary Casca life goes from soldier, to slave, to extreme popularity very quickly, but I don't want to give too much away. Read this book, the first in a long series of great stories about the man made to live until the return of the Jew. Until we meet again.

This book is very helpful if you are looking for a Con Law study aid or explanation book. Many of my classmates also felt they had a better understanding of Con Law while using this book with the class.

If anyone is taking Constitutional Law and is using the Chemerinsky case book, this treatise is a MUST have. You can actually get along the semester perfectly without the big case book and just reading this treatise. It explains things way better than the big book. Unless you need to know the cases straight from the language in the case book, this is just enough to do very well in this class.

This book cuts out all of the "bull" from your textbook and just tells you what you need to know about the cases and will probably even tell you what your teacher is going to lecture about in class.

This is a very helpful study aid for Constitutional law, and believe it or not, it does qualify as concise. The topic is obviously expansive, and the book does a decent job of hitting the critical points without waxing too discursive.

this book really clarifies a lot of the major concepts. i recommend it to any con law student.

I love fantasy and romance and hunky fey warriors with long flowing black hair and endless devotion...all that, but for some reason I didn't really get into Lord of the Fading Lands. I enjoyed the book alright, but somehow, it seemed dragging a little. Rain was dreamy enough...too dreamy, maybe, and somehow, Elli didn't really catch my eye as Rain's equal...well all that's gonna change in book II, Lady of Light and Shadow. Am I ever glad to have stuck with the story and picked up book II. The story really got going, and Elli's character started to shine (literally!). Also, a wonderful new character was introduced: Ser Gaelen!!!! The (former) Dark Lord with icy blue eyes! (swoon @_@) He really stole the scences and, sorry to say, I think he outshone Rain. Even though Rain's 1200 years old, he still acted a bit adolescent compared to Ser Gaelenn. ^_- Which is fine by me. I am all for character growth, and both Rain and Elli have quite a bit of growing to do. I can't wait to see how they mature together over the course of the story. Eagerly waiting for the next 2 books!!

This follow up to Lord of the Fading Lands is FANTASTIC! I highly recommend this one. This series is so compelling you won't want to put it down. If you don't already have the first one, make sure you buy both b/c you won't want to wait for the 2nd one to come in the mail - its that good!

Followup to Lord of the Fading Lands. The romance between Elysetta & Rain continues, lots of political intrigue and adventure, and Elysetta comes into her powers in a most satifying way (no more wimpy doormat! I feel like singing!).

This is the second book in the series. The first is Lord of the Fading Lands, These books are a must read they are awsome, if you love a great story with lots of turns that keep you guessing you will love them. They are one of the greatest stories I have ever read....

The next book comes out in Sept. of 2008

I was given this book. I thought it was so good I went out and bought the first book in the series. Rain and Ellysetta struck a note in my psyche. The characters were real and very likable. Rain has been added to my list of fantasy characters I'd like to meet. I absolutely loved the lavender eyes!
The action was well thought out. While I can predict (as the educators say to take the fun out of reading) a story line, I am planning to buy the next books in the series. I am also looking forward to anything else Ms. Wilson writes.