Andre Books

Heard this story as a child from my grandparents who were on German background. This story is just like they told it. Beautiful illustrations complete the story that swirled in my head so many years ago!!

Ok.I HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK.I hope that you don`t hurt my reviews for this,but in a way,I HAVE read this book.I am in this play,so I have read this script.And since the play is going to be on Saturday,(5th) and Sunday(6th) and also for the next weekend,I have to read this script over and over and over again.I think that this book is a very good book.In the play I am Miss Applebee but I think that this book is very good it must be.

When I was about seven-years-old a family member gave me a recording, (78s) of the Pied Piper of Hamelin narrated by Ingrid Bergman. As I listened, I could see the characters in my head and never tired of the story.

A month ago I bought the book for my eight-year-old granddaughter who lives about eight hundred miles away from me, because I was afraid with the passing of one more generation, the story might be forgotten.

It is a lovely book, written by Robert Browning more than a century ago. The drawings are perfect, given the dated language used in this book. And the story has a simple message, about honoring our promises.

Sadly, my granddaughter glanced at the book and was clearly not interested. I wanted to read it with her, intending to make clear the English used by Browning.

So, a tale almost twelve hundred years old bit the dust, at least in our family it did.

But if you are a lover of this fable, it is worth your time to try it out on the children in your family. They will be the richer for it.

This book would be a wonderful treasure for the pictures alone. Kate Greenaway, noted children's illustrator, has created a magical world of beautiful children, innocent faces, and romantic, nostalgic costumes. The colors on these pages are breathtaking, and the details (although Greenaway is always faulted for not drawing hands and feet well) are superb. This story is not for very young children, as it contains some troublesome themes. For the older child, perhaps 7+, the story might provoke some interesting post-read family discussions about honesty, trust, and the actual state of the children at the end of the tale. This is even a beautiful book to give to adults, as the messages about human nature can be appreciated on a deeper level.

"Rats!
They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cook's own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats."

Robert Browning (1812-1889) first published his poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin, A Child's Story" in 1842, based on an old German legend which may or may not have had some basis in historical fact. Browning was a serious poet; even in a poem filled with playful rhymes written specifically for children, he did not "dumb down" his language, but expected his readers to do a little work in understanding some of his "big words."

Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) was one of the most famous and popular illustrators of children's literature in the latter part of the 19th Century. She had grown up loving Browning's poem, and shortly before his death she requested and received his permission to republish it accompanied by her own illustrations. This edition was initially published in 1888 under the imprint of George Routledge & Sons, which was at that same time in the process of splitting between Routledge and Frederick Warne. Starting in 1889 all subsequent editions carried the Warne imprint. The book continued to be popular, and Frederick Warne has issued reprints from time to time, well into the late 20th Century. This Warne edition is not in print at present, but used copies with various reprint dates are available from Amazon Marketplace sellers.

However, two different reprint editions are currently available, each with the complete original text and illustrations, and each presented with loving care from an eminently respectable publisher, in well-made but modestly priced editions. The Dover reprint (ISBN 0486296199) is full-size, in a sturdy paperback; the Alfred A Knopf/Borzoi/Everyman's Library reprint (ISBN 0679428127) is part of their Children's Classics series, in a very sturdily constructed hardcover with sewn sections that will not crack with use, but the page size is somewhat smaller. Both are beautiful books, and either is an excellent value.

As noted in the Editorial Reviews above, there have been other editions of "The Pied Piper," with different illustrations, and at least one seems to have been issued with the poem itself "retold" to make the language simpler; neither of those reviews is discussing this original version. Some readers may prefer one or another of these different versions. But anyone wanting to stick with Browning's original full text and Greenaway's original charming, muted and subtle illustrations should choose between the Dover or the Everyman's, or visit Amazon's Marketplace sellers to look for a copy of the Frederick Warne.

Ever since childhood, my favorite comics were Franco-Belgian. Tintin, Asterix, Lucky Luke and last but not least Spirou. As a kid, I read all the Spirou books in French and I thought they were amazing.
This book was written by Andre Franquin, the first artist to turn spirou into a major success. This book was drawn in the 60's, and shows the battle between Spirou and Fantasio against a maniacal inventor named Zorglub. This book is considered as one of Franquin's finest by most Spirou fans. It is a must read. I hope that someday more Spirou books will be available to the English reading public, especially those drawn by Franquin and by Tome and Janry.

I've read all Spirou's books 15 years ago and definitely Franquin's ones are unbeatable. Unfortunately you won't find the same imagination and humour inside the other authors'books. Nowadays, you only find Franquin's books in french. Why, if they have the other not so cool books print in english and portuguese, and probably spanish, italian..? I used to find those books in portuguese in Portugal's bookstores back then. Kim Thompson, please do us a favor. Translate all the other Franquin's books to english.I wish my kids will have the same joy of reading Spirou as I had...and Tintin, Asterix, and Blake & Mortimer. Real, flesh and bone heroes, full of humour and wit.

Z is for Zorglub was the 15th Spirou book Franquin made. He then left the comic to focus on his own character Gaston la Gaffe. In Z is for zorglub we'll meet the mad scientist zorglub who wants to dominate the world. However, there is one spirou book even better than this one: Le dictateur et le champignon: In which Spirou and Fantasio must battle Fantasios evil cousin Zantafio (whom is the archvillain of the series)

I have around thirty of the hardcover Spirou and Fantasio graphic novels, in Spanish, from when I vacationed in Spain as a boy. As a college student now, I look back on those days fondly, and these graphic novels have aged extremely well. This French comic series are adventure stories similar to those found in the more famous Tintin books by Herge. However, in my opinion, Spirou and Fantasio are far superior...more whimsical and imaginative (the character Marsupilami originated in the series' pages before being bought by Disney). Spirou and Fantasio travel the world, toppling dictatorships, fighting mad scientists, traveling to the future and the past, and stopping organized crime rings. A few years back, a series called El Pequeno Spirou (or Little Spirou), spinned off of the Spirou and Fantasio comics. Little Spirou stories are one page comic strips (like those that appear in the Sunday paper) full of hilarious lowbrow (and award-winning) humor. The main character is Spirou as a child, and Fantasio, unfortunately, doesn't appear in the stories. These too are worth getting. Unfortunately, as other reviewers have stated, it's hard finding these graphic novels outside of France (and Spain). Hopefully, as with Asterix and Tintin, these books will someday reach avid young readers everywhere.

I read all the Spirou stories as a child when we lived in Belgium, and then afterward when we had moved back to the US. In the 60s, they were serious rivals of Herge's Tintin for the hearts of European kids. For some reason (undoubtedly some financial or distribution reason I'm unaware of) they have yet to catch on in America. Hopefully, the American printing of Z Is For Zorglub, one of the more fantastical, even outlandish, of the Spirou & Fantasio adventures, will kindle an interest. My daughter is a convert and I'm beginning to teach her French so she can read my old Spirous, which I've kept all these years.

I Just returned from 1 week business/pleasure visit to New York and I found this guide full of good recommendations and descriptions were accurate. Better than Lonely Planet or Time Out's, which I also bought. Quite a useful guide with plentiful restaurant, watering hole and sight-seeing suggestions. It's replete with valuable information about attractions, hotels, eateries, shops, spas, etc. Beyond this, however, the layout is terrific, and the book is remarkably easy to use as a result. The maps, in particular, are helpful.I'd definintely purchase an Avant Guide guidebook again. I am happy to say that this book was by far the best single-city guide I used.

I am a big fan of the Avant-Guides. I used this book almost exclusively for a trip to NYC in the spring of 2002--thus some of the information had changed. Otherwise I would have rated it at a 5 star. The information on the museums and where to get the best deal on theater ticket was very helpful. I have since ordered the guides for Las Vegas, New Orleans and Toronto in hopes of finding the same cool, underground type of information provided for NYC. PLEASE--do guides for Montreal, Washington D.C. and Seattle.

I love to travel and I love guidebooks. This one is the best series Ive seen. it makes me laugh, has a great senseability about the places I like and really feels like it was written by a friend. I never write these reviews, but Im inspired to write this one because the book is so good.

Honestly, I've been living in New York for the past two years, and I think I have a reasonably fair grasp on its nighlife, restaurants, whathaveyou. Not only did this book have a listing of some of my favorite spots, but it talked about some places I wish I'd known about earlier. Some good stuff here.

when we first scanned this guide we thought perhaps we were too old to appreciate it {my husband and I are in our fifties]. However, we loved every bit of it and were especially helped in terms of what not to do or where not to eat.

I would just like to confirm what a previous reviewer stated for Mr. Wirkmaa's book. I took the reviewer's advice, bought the book on Amazon, and also went ahead and bought "The Scorekeeper's Friend" available at Mr. Glasco's website. The two taken together offer a winning combination for those aspiring to become competent baseball/softball scorekeepers. The former comprehensively explains the reasoning behind the scoring rules of baseball, while the latter shows you how to do it on a scorecard. Two thumbs up!

If you're an official scorer at any level you need this book. I'm an official scorer for a minor league baseball team, and I keep mine handy during the games. Every now and then I'll need to pull it out to check a rule when something odd happens. Without it I would have been able to find answers in the official rule book, but not nearly as quickly or definitively.

I hope the author is working on an updated edition to reflect the scoring rule changes put into place in 2007! I'll buy this book again if he does!

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the basics of score keeping. It is about as simple as it can get as the offensive numbers goes.

This book does a very solid job of clarifying some of the finer points of scorekeeping that are somewhat vague and difficult to comprehend in the baseball rule book. I highly recommend it for anyone who is truly serious about improving the accuracy of their scorekeeping skills. Even novice baseball fans that like to score a game just for kicks while sitting at the ballpark can benefit from reading it.

Mr. Wirkmaa patterns his book directly on the Rules of Baseball, therefore making it simple to go from the Rules to his interpretation of how the scoring would be handled for that particular situation. This type of editing lays out what is still a complicated subject in at least a methodical fashion.

My only disappointment on receiving the book was that he includes no diagrams on the scorekeeping itself. I wanted to see the actual scribblings when someone "runs the book." Not in there. I purchased another excellent book (not available through Amazon) entitled "The Scorekeeper's Friend" by Bill Glasco that has the level of diagramming (and explanations) that I was initially seeking.

All in all, any person serious about their scorekeeping should own Mr. Wirkmaa's book. I hope he follows it up with another.

Catseye is another book based in and around the Dipple slum settlement/camp, or whatever you want to call it. There are only a few options open to those that live here. In Judgement on Janus, the main character there chose one, the young man in this book chooses another, taking temporary jobs to try and get by.

He lands what is basically a pet shop job dealing with exotic animals, who turn out to be far more than they seem. This leads to a dog and his boy sort of escapades, or the other way around.

After reading just about anything science fiction put in front of me for years, I hate to admit that this is my first foray into Andre Norton's work. The characters and the world instantly start out feeling stable and developed so there doesn't have to be any long spots of backstory narrative. All the details fall right where they need to go so the reader doesn't have to do much work. It's like you open the cover and the adventure begins.

I very much enjoyed Troy's plight through a place that's not exactly friendly to his type and how he grew as a man throughout the story.

The action of several of Norton's science fiction novels have begun on Korwar, whose people deliberately chose to make the planet a playground for the rich and powerful of the galaxy. Ironically, this is the best possible protection for Korwar from the interstellar corporations represented by those same people - while they often plunder worlds for natural resources, they won't foul their own nest.

Despite their protection, however, Korwar isn't untouched. During the great war between the Council and Confederation governments (its aftermath appears in several books, such as DARK PIPER), the capital city of Tikil became the site of a refugee camp. After the war, those whose worlds were gone, whether destroyed or traded away at the peace table, had nowhere else to go, so the refugee camp became the Dipple, an unofficial 3rd face of Tikil making an ugly contrast to the expensive haunts of tourists or even the working city of the spaceport and warehouse district. The Dipple is a perennial problem, and CATSEYE follows Troy Horan, brought to this sterile warren as a youngster from the plains of Norden. There are only three options open to a Dipple-dweller: attempting to join the Thieves' Guild (as Ziantha of FORERUNNER FORAY escaped), signing on as indentured labor for a frontier world (as Niall of JUDGEMENT ON JANUS did), or scraping by without sub-citizenship by competing in the very tight casual labor market, as Horan does. Consequently, while the protagonists of FORERUNNER FORAY and JUDGEMENT ON JANUS also came from the Dipple, Troy Horan's story is the first to concentrate on Tikil and Korwar - the other tales leave the planet early in the story.

On the morning the story opens, Troy has incredible luck - the assigner has a job for someone with "knowledge of animals", and Troy's reply that he has that of a Norden herd rider lands him indefinite employment at Kyger's pet shop, which provides exotic pets as status symbols for the rich. Troy's initial worries about the decade separating him from any contact with animals aren't a problem - his initial work assignment to help retrieve some new acquisitions from the port lengthens when an attempted hijack en route puts a full-time Kyger employee temporarily out of action.

But why would anyone try to hijack a shipment of exotic animals bound for a life as pets - even as pets of the Gentle Fem San duk Var, rich and influential though she is? Delivering a fussel hawk and accompanying its first hunting expedition with a Ranger of Korwar (and giving us our first glimpse not only of Korwar's huge unspoiled nature preserves, but of the mysterious Forerunner ruins of Ruhkarv) leaves him with an impression that Korwar's guardians are taking an unusual interest in what is, after all, only a pet shop. After all, it's not *illegal* to convince credulous rich people that their little darlings can't survive without special diets, available from Kyger's. :)

Then the routine of delivering special pet food to a Sattor Commander's beloved kinkajou is disrupted by murder - and Troy covers the kinkajou's odd behavior with a plausible story for the police. He finds himself wondering just how intelligent these animals are - and whether he should ally himself with Kyger, who may provide a permanent escape from the Dipple, or with a certain cats-eye view of the world.

(Ruhkarv, and the disastrous fate of the last archeological team ever allowed in the place, are mentioned in some of Norton's other works - DREAD COMPANION mentions it in passing, while a Zacathan scholar in BROTHER TO SHADOWS attempts an experiment with a revised version of the device that brought final disaster to the Ruhkarv team - but CATSEYE provides more information about Ruhkarv than any other story to date.)

Catseye (1961) is a standalone SF novel in the Dipple universe. When the War of Two Sectors broke out, the Council had evacuated the Horans from Norden to the Displaced Persons center on Korwar. Range Master Lang had volunteered for military service and did not return. Then his wife died of the Cough, a passing illness that was particularly hard on those from Norden. Their son was the sole survivor of the Horan family.

In this novel, ten year later, Troy Horan has only his wide Range Master belt and a few memories to remind him of Norden. Now he is working as a casual laborer in Tikil. One morning, he is offered a job by the mechanical assigner and accepts it. Today he will escape the Dipple for a few hours.

Troy reports for work at Kyger's, a purveyor of extraordinary pets. On his first day, he frustrates an attempt to steal a pair of Terran cats. Supervisor Zul -- a full-blooded Bushman -- is wounded in the attempt and Kyger offers Troy a seven day contract to fill in for the injured man.

During the incident, Troy receives a warning in mindspeech from the cats. Later, he approaches their cage and exchanges a few thoughts. He conceals these communications from his employer and co-workers since he is not really sure what has happened.

Troy has an affinity for animals and does especially well with the fussel hawk, a hunting bird from Norden. He is asked to accompany a customer into the wild to prove the bird's qualities. He will spend three days in the company of Rerne, a high ranking member of the Hunter Clans.

Before this excursion, Troy is sent to a hillside villa to deliver special food for a pet kinkajou owned by Commander Varan Di. Since the Commander had just been murdered, the patrollers warn off his flitter, but allow him to continue after he explains his errand. As he is approaching the villa, the pet runs away from a patroller carrying it out of the building and leaps into Troy's arms.

The patrollers are upset at finding the pet rummaging through the Commander's papers. Troy points out that the kinkajou is a very imitative animal and his probably copying his master's habitual routine. While he is talking to the patrollers, the kinkajoy is pleading with him in mindspeech to take it away from the estate. Eventually, the patrollers tell him to return the pet to Kyger's shop and they fly away.

In this story, Troy finds that a pair of Terran foxes can also talk to him in mindspeech. He even overhears a conversation between the animals and their master. He begins to suspect Kyger of some form of espionage. Then Kyger is murdered and Zul tries to kill these animals. Troy steals a flitter and flees into the wilderness with the five Terran animals.

Troy and the animals are followed by Kyger's associates and the flitter is forced down in the 'accursed place' of Ruhkarv. Now they are hunted not only by Zul and his men, but also by the rangers of the Hunter Clans. They travel deep within the alien ruins and find much to fear therein.

This story is a precursor to the Beast Master series. Although Fors has mental communications with the great hunting cat Lura in Star Man's Son, this tale depicts a team of human and animals. Unlike Storm Hosteen's beastmaster team, however, Troy's group is more accidental than intentional. But it is still a combined force against their enemies.

Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of human-beast teamwork, future cultures, and high adventure.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I won't go too much into the plot, as another reviewer here has done so quite excellently. However, I want to point out that Catseye was published for the Young Adult market and so can be read by both children, young adults and adults. I originally read this novel as a child and it still remains one of my favourite Andre Norton books.

Far, far into mankind's future, when humankind has spread out into the stars from the original planet of Terra and encountered other races...Young Troy Horan is a refugee/displaced person due to war, living the shadow life of an unwanted, non-citizen in the Dipple camp. His world and past life has gone forever and he has no future. The elite and powerbrokers of the galaxy, gathered on the pleasure planet of Korwar, prefer to ignore the unpleasant truth of the Dipple under their noses.

One day, Troy has the unbelievable luck to secure some temporary day work in a luxury pet shop. While there, he stumbles on a mystery that could cost him his life, and he goes on the run with the special sentient luxury pets he has discovered he can communicate with in the petshop.

Who can Troy trust? He and his Terran animal friends hold a dangerous secret, and various interested and powerful parties now set off in pursuit of Troy and his friends as they escape into the highly protected nature wilderness that comprises most of Korwar, and finally into the mysterious, forbidden and sealed ruins of a previous race which existed on Korwar. The ruins are officially sealed for a reason - can the escapees survive their pursuers and what lurks within?

Language and content are appropriate for children/young adults. In addition, the writing and plot is at an extremely high level, appealing to adult readers as well. Some themes are environmentalism, power, war, refugees and animal rights. One of my favourite SF books still, as an adult reader. Also one for cat lovers.

As another reviewer wrote, this book was one of my first introductions to the world of Science Fiction/Fantasy more than 30 years ago. It was a turning point in my life. But that doesn't tell you much about the book.

The main characters, Krip Vorlund, Spacer, and Maelen, Moon Singer of Yiktor are brought to life under the uniquely creative pen of Andre Norton. The story of how they are brought together, the trials they undergo, and their triumphs, (some of which are double-edged), flow with subtle twists and turns of plot to keep the reader spellbound until the end. Then you realize that the story is not truly over. For those captured as I was by this story and it's characters, the next book is 'Exiles to the Stars'. A much later addition to the "series" is 'Flight in Yiktor' and the latest addition is 'Dare to Go A-Hunting'.

I read this book 30 years ago and never forgot it. After reading it again recently, I'm just as impressed as I was back then. This is one of Andre Norton's best books. It is creepy, exciting, and unpredictable. The writing is much more smooth and focused than many of Norton's more recent works.

"Moon of Three Rings" is the first of the Moonsinger series, followed by the equally good "Exiles of the Stars," and then the somewhat less interesting "Flight in Yiktor" and "Dare to Go A-Hunting." "Moon of Three Rings" and "Exiles of the Stars" are scheduled to be reprinted in May 2006 in a single volume called "Moonsinger."

The Moonsinger series is an integral part of Norton's Forerunner universe, explaining a great deal about who the Forerunners were and why they disappeared. (Click on my name to see the list of Forerunner books.) The first two books in this miniseries are told from the point of view of a spaceman named Krip and a shape-changing alien named Maelen, who is one of the strongest and most complex female characters in the Forerunner saga.

(MINOR SPOILER - plot summary)
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Krip's starship sets down on Maelen's planet, where he encounters enemies who plot to kill him. To save his life, Maelen transfers Krip's mind and soul into the body of a predatory animal. The rest of the book follows their adventures as they try to evade the villains and restore Krip to his own body.

This book is great. It is one of the first sci-fi books I read as a kid. I became a fan of sci-fi in large part because of this book. I hope to get a copy for myself soon.

I found this book to be good reading same as the other reviews except no one mentioned a sequel Flight in Yiktor.

Moon of Three Rings is the first novel in the Moonsinger series. Krip Vorland is assistant cargomaster on the Free Trader ship Lydis. Maelen of the Kontra is a Moon Singer of the Thassa. Both have come to Yrjar on Yiktor for the great trade fair.

In this novel, Maelen has been approached by Osokun, son of Oskold, and an off-worlder, Gauk Slafid, of the Combine. They want Maelen to lure a member of the Lydis crew into a trap to gain off-world knowledge and weapons. Maelen refuses, yet is troubled by the plot. When Krip and a fellow crew member attend her beast show, she has her partner, Malec, approach the off-worlders, offer a tour of the show, and then bring them to her so that she might question them and better understand the conspiracy against the Free Traders.

After she has introduced all the animals to the Free Traders, she asks them about the possibility of a touring beast show among the stars, but then they are interrupted by a oddjob boy, who she has tasked with watching an animal dealer, Othelm of Ylt, suspected of abusing his creatures. When Maelen begs leave to go, Krip asks permission to accompany her and they go to the dealer's tent, where they find a badly abused barsk. As Maelen goes to the animal, Othelm tries to attack her with a poisoned snik-claw knife, but Krip paralyzes his hand with a stunner. Maelen provides a token payment for the beast and removes it from Othelm's custody.

Krip reports the incident to his captain. After checking the persona tape on Krip's belt, the captain absolves him of any wrong doing, but still limits him to the ship and the ship's fair booth as a precaution. Later the duty priest and fair guards come to take Krip for judgment. Since he is busy with important customers, the captain stays behind but retains Krip's stunner and sends along another crew member. The priest and guards escort Krip to the fringe of the fairgrounds, where they are attacked by another party and Krip is taken captive.

After recovering full consciousness, Krip finds himself in a pit within a Yiktor fort. Osokun has found another way to gain a captive for his plot to extort weapons and knowledge. While he is waiting for a reply to his demands, Osokun also has Krip tortured in an attempt to break the off-world conditioning. When Krip awakens again, he knows that the only way that he is going to survive is to escape his captors.

After Krip's capture, Maelen senses his condition and leaves the fair to rescue him, taking along the barsk and several other animals with useful capabilities and skills. She doesn't know where Krip is located, but follows the pull of her wand eastward.

Like some other novels by the author, this story is just barely science fiction, for it postulates powers that are much like the magic of Witch World. Some of these powers are beyond the present day speculations of psionics; switching identities between bodies, for example, is an old standby of fantasy tales, but not in the parapsychological repertoire. However, this notion has been used in a variety of SF tales, including Schmitz's "Resident Witch".

This novel also differs from most other works by the author in that the heroine initially appears less than lovable. While caring deeply for her animal friends, Maelen has little empathy for anyone who is not Thassa (and not much even for the Thassa). Moreover, she arrogantly believes that she is more capable than any other living Moon Singer, as evidenced by her belief that she will be the first to tame a wild barsk. However, these flaws of personality are quite deliberate, as the storyline takes a step beyond the coming of age tale to an account of developing maturity and wisdom.

Recommended to Norton fans and anyone who enjoys tales of personal and interpersonal growth in a space adventure setting.

In general, this book is a fast page-turner. Joan Collins has gone a long way to prove how attractive women over forty can be in other books and, as if it wasn't enough, she makes her point again with friends rallying for support. This book is written in a very colloquial style which makes us privy to Joan Collins' intimate chats with her friends about beauty, fitness, life and love. It is a privilege to have the likes of Stefanie Powers, Shirley MacLaine, Ali Mc Graw, Morgan Fairchild, Shirley Bassey, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Shakira Caine or Angie Dickinson handing down to us the experience of a lifetime in the limelight. Yet, the most naive readers should beware of certain oddities like Ivana Trump's gobbling up over six eggs a day, Shirley MacLaine's fasting for over six days on apple juice or Jacqueline Bisset's phobia of fans kisses for fear of bacteria transmission. Despite which, the book is a winner.

One should never reveal the secrets of friends!

As Joan will soon find out! Apparently Joanna Lumley & Jerry Hall are very upset with her and are waiting in the shadows and lurking for the perfect opportunity to deliver a Linda Evans-style smack down on Joan!

I loved this book! It was such fun to be privy to the secrets of the rich and famous. You'll find that these women are not much different from yourself. If you are a woman who cares for and appreciates her looks and feminity, you'll savor every word. Beware: Divas of the world will enjoy the book most. If you are flippant or carefree about your looks and the aging experience, you'll find it shallow and boring. I for one felt as though I was sitting across the table with Joan and friends over lunch, revelling in our womanhood.

What a pleasure to learn from a book that revels in the vitality of life after 40! My Friends' Secrets contains 200 pages of stylish pictures and down-to-earth dialogue that reveal the beauty and health tips of some of the world's most striking women. Here Miss Collins and her friends share more with their readers than advice about living well; they embody a "philosophy of life" that underlines the power of positive thinking as a way to inner happiness and peace. The result is an outward radiance for the world to enjoy. The author's maxim, "After 40 you get the face you deserve", sums up the essence of this book - the women of "Generation Zest" can and do take charge of their own destinies and reap the rewards of aging with grace. In a world where some are inclined to accept lemons, Collins makes lemonade. This sentiment of making the best of things comes through vividly throughout the book. It is perhaps the reason why My Friends' Secrets is a treasure for any home library. The secrets of the women profiled here fire the creative imagination. Collins is evidently in her element as an interviewer; the conversations in My Friends' Secrets have more spark and intelligence than any talk show presently on television. In this volume, it's clear that the author's best gift to the public is her own multi-faceted personality. In short, My Friends' Secrets is a five-star read and a tribute to the habit of living and loving an interesting life.

Joan Collins has done a remarkable job with this beauty tell-all. She has choosen very fascinating, not to mention beautiful, and all over the age of 40, and some close to 80. The books reads like a friendly chat. There are some great tips from legendary beauties such as Ali McGraw, Ivana Trump, the ever beautiful Joan Rivers and from society hostesses such as the Texas beauty Lynn Wyatt the always gracious Betsy Bloomingdale. This book is a must have for anyone interested in health and beauty. The photos alone are worth the price of the book.

While I wouldn't recommend this book to beginning programmers, it's great for people who already know another language (preferably C/C++) and a little about object-oriented programming. It touches on many subjects, so you won't need a whole bookshelf of Java books ("Let's see...one for language reference...one for graphics and the AWT...one for networking..."). I take this book back and forth every day between work and home. What would I do without it?

This is one of the first books I bought to get an understanding of Java and how it is comprable to what I already know of C/C++. This book is the perfect starting point, giving every comprable declaration to C/C++. Kudos to the authors, can't wait for a more up-to-date version though.

Excellent book, but now that Swing is moving ahead of AWT, this book is useless for GUI. But as for the basics, it's an complete book. Good for someone who already knows a programming language

Fantastic book. Pithy style, very readable, no fluff, excellent as a reference. Anyone coming to Java from C++ should get this book. About the only thing I would do to improve it would be to have at least a short chapter on database access.

Even though this is one of my oldest Java books I keep going back to it. I wish it would be updated for the new Event model and swing however. The coverage of the 1.0 JDK is very good and I still go back to the gridbag description and examples when I get confused.

After taking the Fundamentals course they also offer, I wanted to try my hand at development. The step-by-step walk through and examples were an absolute must for navigating through the web that is SharePoint. Everything is clearly marked and well-documented which also makes for an excellent reference tool.

I have used other SharePoint training programs before but this is hands down my favorite. The DvD is so helpful and I keep going back to it for more.

This is hands-down one of the best SharePoint 2003 training resources out there (and there are not many). Very comprehensive and covers a broad range of topics from the 101 Functional Usage, Design and Administration, and finally development, application building, and web part creation. Tons of demos and excercises/labs. The "freestyle" labs in the course are a perfect way to apply what you have just learned from the lecture/lab. This course will put the student in a grand position to fully understand SharePoint 2003 technology. Thank you! I cant wait for the SharePoint 2005 version to come out!!

This is a MUST reference tool for any SharePoint 2003 Administrator, when you need to refer to how and what to do in any given situtation that you don't deal with day-to-day!

This DVD is a great reference for administrators and developers.

The DVD is menu driven so you can easily get to any topic.

Andre is a good presenter and easy to understand. The DVD switches from presentation to demos to labs. The labs reinforce what you are learning.
I highly recommend this SharePoint training course.

"The Stars are Ours" by Andre Norton is the first science fiction novel I ever read. I was a precocious second grader. That was a loooong time ago.

Andre Norton was a very prolific SFWA Grandmaster that introduced two generations to the wonders of science fiction. This is my personal favorite of all her works and I consider on par with Heinlein's Charles Scribner series also written in the 1950s.

One of her peculiarities was Norton never used the word `Earth' . She habitually used the term `Terra'. But I digress.

In this future `Terra', scientists and engineers are hunted, murdered and enslaved. Terrorists had taken over satellite stations and bombarded the major cities. A charismatic politician arises wanting to take humanity back to a simpler time not so dependent on technology. When he is assassinated, the world's scientists are blamed. The Great Purge results in the hated guild being ruthlessly slaughtered with the survivors driven into exile.

Pax runs the world using the remaining technology to push humanity to a more agrarian model. Think of an entire world run like Cambodia under Pol Pot and you understand what this world is like.

Dalgard Nordis is a member of a scientist family gone into hiding. He escaped as a young boy with his older brother Lars and his family. He and his young, motherless niece Dessie are experts in forest. Dessie is gifted with animals. Dard is gifted with a photographic memory and the chief provider for his family.

Unknown to the others, Lars has been in communication with his former associates. Life on Terra is increasingly difficult for them. They have hidden an experimental spacecraft in a secret base. However they need the critical assistance of Lars Nordis is necessary for the expeditions success.

Unfortunately Pax has become aware of the survivors existence and the clock is ticking. Of course they're successful and they find their home on a distant world. The details are what the story are about and an excellent one it is. It would make an excellent sci-fi thriller movie.

I can't guess how many Andre Norton books I've read during the past half-century. Most were good reads, while a good many ho-hums along the way made following her work unpredictable, at best.

The Stars are Ours and Star Born were among the first science fiction books I ever read. Just as a number of other, later reviewers began their SF voyage with these two, so did I. I've read them a number of times since and still enjoy them.

I really wouldn't call this 'juveniles', though young adults will enjoy them too. These books were early in the SF genre and were intended for a general readership. The typify what was going on in SF during the 1950s. In my view it hasn't particulary improved.

The Stars Are Ours (1954) is the first novel in the Astra duology. Mankind had reached the Moon, Mars and Venus, but found little to justify terraforming, so interplanetary flight was used only for scientific research. However, the three space stations provided a number of services, including astronomical and meteorological observations and refueling interplanetary flights. One of these stations was invaded by unidentified armed men who turned certain installations into weapons which they unleashed against the planet. A major portion of the planet was completely devastated and the loss of life was incalculable.

Among the survivors was Arturo Renzi, who had lost his entire family. He began to preach the evils of science and was welcomed as a great leader throughout the world. However, his message was too liberal for some of his followers and he was assassinated, apparently by a Free Scientist. For three days after the assassination, Renzi's followers engaged in a furious purge against scientists and techneers, hunting them down and killing them. Then Saxon Bort, one of Renzi's chief lieutenants, assumed command of the leader's forces and established the tight dictatorship of the Company of Pax.

In this novel, a decade or so later, Dard Nordis is the son of a Scientific family, living with his older brother, Lars, and his niece, Dessie. Lars and Dard, together with Lars' pregnant wife, Kathia, had fled the purge, but the escape had left Lars a twisted cripple and his wife an amnesiac. After Dessie was born, Kathia retreated into her own dream world until her death. Now Dard, Lars, and Dessie live on a farm far from any population center and the only nearby farm is Hew Folley's place. Dard doesn't trust Folley, for he wants their farm. Then one night, a Pax 'copter lands in the snow just before the house and armed Peacemen surround the building. Dard has the others gather food and supplies and sends them down into the cellar, then torches the house. Moving aside some rotting bins, he uncovers a tunnel, sends Dessie ahead, and helps Lars struggle down the passage.

After the Peacemen leave, Lars sends Dard out to leave a packet for his Scientific underground contact, but Dard hears a shot shortly after he drops the packet and runs back to find Folley clutching a squirming Dessie. Dard throws his knife and fatally injures Folley, then discovers that Lars is dead. With no other recourse remaining, Dard and Dessie return to the contact point to wait. Lotta Folley finds them there and gives them food and a scarf for Dessie; Lotta knows that her father is dead, but she recognizes that he was a man full of hate and who liked to hurt people. Besides, Lotta likes Dessie and liked her mother even more; they were the only people that ever treated her as a real person instead of an object. Lotta takes the rifle back to the barn to fool the Peacemen.

When Lars' contact arrives, Dard convinces him to take Dessie and himself back to safety. They spend the night in a cave, but a Pax 'copter is circling the area when they awake. The contact, Sach, leads the Peacemen away so Dard and Dessie can proceed to the next point in their journey. They move away from the cave along a bare ledge as far as they can and then jump into a snow drift on the edge of the woods. Their journey is fairly easy until they reach the river; the ice is too thin to support even Dessie's weight. After looking up and down river, Dard finds only one place that may support them, an arch of ice covered with snow. Dard carries Dessie across, slowly and carefully, then rests for a count of hundred on the other side. Again heading to the peak that marks their goal, Dard hears the 'copter return and throws Dessie and himself into a tangle of bushes. The men in the 'copter rake the bushes with fire. He and Dessie scoot out the other side, but find it to be a wide sweep of open ground.

This novel is another of the author's post-apocalyptic stories, but the emphasis herein is on spaceflight. Mankind had achieved interplanetary flight and was working on interstellar flight when some irrational terrorists destroyed civilization. Other fanatics then ripped up civilization into even smaller pieces and tried to ensure that ignorance would reign forever. The Scientific community, however, was working on a stardrive and that work was continued in hiding.

This story contains several of the characteristic signatures of the author's space adventures, including special talents and aliens, but does not include mutations nor symbiotic animals. This novel shows the beginning of galactic-wide human civilization and Star Rangers shows the ending of that civilization. Of course, some of the other stories may be set in a successor society. This story is definitely a little dated, but it is still a pleasure to read, as is the sequel, Star Born.

Highly recommended for Norton fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of desperate spaceflights to planets around other suns.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This is one of two books that hooked me on SF (the other was Red Planet by Heinlein) when I was thirteen. I was captivated. If you want to get your kids away from the video games and into reading SF, get them this book.

The Stars are Ours! Was the very first book I purchased with my Babysitting money waaaaay back in the sixth grade. If you read only one Andre Norton Book this is the one..but if you are like me you'll get hooked on anything that Ms. Norton has or will write! I lost my original copy,but found a copy in a used book store...it was as exciting reading it again at 50 something as it was at 12!