Bradley Books

If you want to know how to use OAS 10g with your development tools, this book is cover it. But not too detail. I hope I can find a book with best practise suggestion how to use OAS10g with form and report or java tools.

Je suis analyste d'affaires en Entrepot de donnees (Datawarehousing). Mon organisation a choisi Oracle Portal comme plate-forme de presentation de l'information d'affaires contenue dans l'Entrepot.

La lecture de "Oracle AS 10g Web Devevelopment" a ete une source d'aide tres precieuse dans ce projet. Je recommande et conseil ce livre a tous les analystes qui ont a monter un projet avec Oracle Portal.

Great book. I've been waiting for this book to be release and I wasn't disappointed. Full of great information on how to put this great Oracle tool to work. Easy explanations and great examples will have you up and programming in no time. The authors real know their stuff. Great Job! If you use Oracle's application server, this book is a must have!

This is a much-needed title and Chris Ostrowski has done an excellent job in covering all of the topical areas of 10gAS web development.

The text is clear and easy-to-read and he has excellent real-world examples.

I espcially like the sections on deploying with J2EE and XML, and the discussion on using JDeveloper. This is an excellent companion book for the "Oracle Application Server 10g Administration Handbook", and overall, an excellent, well-written text.

I used this book to deploy Oracle 10g Applications through Oracle Developer Suite 10g and JDeveloper 10g. I felt that it was a good book and overall I have little ill to say about it. The examples are well written and do a good job of reinforcing what you read in the chapter. You read a little then do an example, then read some more, then add to the example and so on. You don't need any Programming experience to use this book just a decent understanding of programming logic. The only criticism I could offer is that the editor should have used arrows when content is being continued on a new line for reasons of page space so that readers will know and understand (beginners can have trouble with this). It's a good book for learning Oracle 10g Applications as a whole from the ground up and for this reason it's worth the money. It's not an overnight crash course (if that is what you are looking for).

fun,silly and light reading. those who are familar with san antonio,texas will have a ball trying to pick out places and people.

I loved this book! I hope the author continues with the series, because I'm ready for more!

Well Just finnished, and I have to say that I loved this book series! I'm a little bummed though that their hasn't been a new one since 2005! I really hope that Laura Bradley continues with this series. It be cool to see it as a movie or somthing! Anyone know her e-mail or somthing, I'm courious to know what happend w/ this series.

This is the first book I have read of Laura Bradley and just thought it was amazing. This is the story of hair dresser who finds herself in the middle of murder and hot cop who is trying to keep her out of danger and maybe into her pants. I can't wait to read her next one. Sit back and enjoy the adventure... I thought this book was great but my sister thoughts it was awful and never finished the book.

I really wanted to like this book. I still like the concept and the character Reyn, but did not like a few things about the writing. It may seem like I am being harsh compared to other reviewers of this book, but the bad writing really prevented me from enjoying it, and I would hate for other people to have the same negative experience.

Here are three things I could not overlook. If you don't think they are a big deal, then you might like the book enough to enjoy it. First, the author kept mentioning things from her first book without explaining them in this book. The author either assumed that you had read the first book, or would go out and buy it, or just didn't realize how important it is for the first time reader to be let in on "the deal." For example, she kept mentioning that Reyn's friend Trude and Jackson Scythe, the "love" interest, have a deal between them, and Reyn is involved. Like Trude bet Jackson that Reyn would or would not do something. It is never clear what the something is or what the deal is about. It may have something to do with sex, but considering Reyn and Jackson never get down and dirty, who knows. It was cute at the begining, but by the end of the book I just didn't care. Second, many events have to conveniently happen and characters have to conveniently know what might otherwise be useless information, in order for the plot to be moved along. Like Reyn's friend Charlotte just happens to know another character (spoiler) who who knows some important information (spoiler) and works for (spoiler) and is friends with (spoiler). Third, there was very little chemistry between Reyn and Jackson other than them glaring at each other. I don't know what happened (or didn't) in the first book between them, but nothing much does in this one.

That being said, the dialogue did have its funny moments, and I liked that the character is a hairstylist and owns her own shop. If Laura Bradley's writing improves, I would read another of her books.

Strictly Forbidden hooked me from the first chapter. I really liked the storyline and the characters. The love that grew between Gavin and Kira was intersting to see develop throughout the pages. There were a few things that I didn't like and one of them was his uppity attitude. He was so worried about scandal that he shunned any emotion other than a cold shoulder towards everyone. His concern for his aunt's "sensibilities" really made me want to pull my hair out. Plus, "the Dagget Curse" was so nerve racking to hear over and over again.
Another thing is the fact that everyone was so mean to Kira Melbourne. Over and over again, she was hearing people talk about her and even Gavin, who she loved was always trampling on her emotions.
I know it sounds like I didn't enjoy this book, but I really did like it. I just found a few things that I thought the book could have done without. Shelley Bradley is a great writer, and I hope that I can find some more books by her that will grab my attention like this one did.

Gavin Daggett, the Duke of Cropthorne is awaiting the arrival of his cousin's fiancé. When he sees her he is stunned by her beauty. Kira Melbourne is running from a scandal. She foolishly ran way with a nobleman whom she thought was going to whisk her off to Gretna Green, not abandon her and tell the entire ton about her "wanton" behavior.

Kira is simply one of the best and most complex heroines I have ever read about in a romance novel. She is half Persian and she is considered bad blood. She cannot find her place either in London or Persia. She desires peace and a family and the only one able to provide these for her is Gavin's cousin, the vicar. The Vicar knows of her past but dismisses it. He does not love Kira but desires to save her.

Gavin has heard the rumors surrounding Kira and is appalled. He decides seducing her is the only way to show his cousin her true nature. Of course, the seducer becomes the seduced. Shelly Bradley doesn't take the easy road with these two characters though. Gavin is prejudiced against Kira's Middle Eastern bloodline. Furthermore, he feels ashamed and guilty for his prejudice. His seduction is despicable and he knows this but seems unable to stop things once they are in motion.

Kira is so incredibly lonely that it is totally understandable why she would see Gavin's cousin as her savior. It also explains why she responds so quickly to Gavin's seduction. He portrays kindness and acceptance, something she has never had her entire life from the ton. He is also passionate and ready to take a stand on her behalf.

Gavin has his own demons to exorcise. He does not want to succumb to real love and passion, else he end up like his father, an indiscriminate womanizer. His transformation is slow but by the end of the book he is totally redeemed and worthy of his heroine. Kira was bold, brave and had a wealth of kindness. Her unselfish nature and confidence were amazing even under some of the most trying circumstances. This book will most assuredly go on my keeper shelf.

Gavin is an interesting hero: he can be warm and witty or arrogant and self-deluded. He's smart and responsible, but too easily (mis)led by the family "curse" and too readily believes love to be mere lust. In fact, nearly everyone wonders if he has a heart. He's flawed, just like real people. He really battles with his feelings for her, often rationalizing his actions, some of which really are not nice.

Kira is a noble, graceful, and open-hearted woman, who is perhaps too naive and too willing to endure insults based on her mixed heritage. It is her loving nature that eventually cracks open Gavin's heart. But she does from time to time stand up for herself, eventually refusing to allow others to think poorly of her and refusing to think so of herself.

The story remains interesting throughtout, the characters are thoroughly developed, and the multilayered plot is finely drawn. The reader is also treated to a renewal of acquaintance with Brock and Maddie from Strictly Seduction (which I didn't like as well as this one), who actually fare almost better in this story. The love scenes here, indeed the entire romance, are much better, and more genuine, more loving.

With "Strictly Forbidden," Shelley Bradley has written an early Victorian romance novel that is truly captivating. From the very first page, I was hooked -- but not because "Strictly Forbidden" boasts of possessing a sizzling and romantic love story, but because this was one of the most angst-driven plots I've ever come across, and because "Strictly Forbidden" possesses one of the most courageous and engaging heroines I've ever come across.

The previous reviewer has done a really good job of encapsulating the basic plot premise, so I won't bore you with another recap. But basically the story revolves around the engagement of an unfortunately notorious young lady (Kira Melbourne) of mixed parentage to a young clergymen of a noble family (James Howland) , and his family's efforts (his mother and his cousin, Gavin Daggett, the Duke of Cropthorne) to separate the two. From the very first moment Kira appeared on the scene, she engaged both my interest and sympathies -- Shelley Bradley did a fantastic job of 'fleshing out' this character, showing us all facets of her character and personality. Ms Bradley also did a really good job in depicting the kinds of difficulties a person of mixed parentage would face -- the easy manner in which people are quick to assume the worse and to condemn just because someone is slightly different.

However, on the negative side, I have to admit that I really hated the duke for much of the novel. Much of his behaviour was deplorable and (at times) really appalling. But I will own that Ms Bradley did a really good job of depicting the conflict that he feels about his attraction for Kira and his determination to end Kira's engagement to James, no matter the pain he may cause; and the confusion he feels as he tries to make his mind if Kira is a heartless wanton or a severely wronged young lady.

Ultimately however, what I really liked about this novel was not the 'romance' that develops between the duke and Kira (the duke tends to rhapsodize too much about Kira's body and mouth and not enough on her character and personality for me to believe that he was truly in love with her and not in 'lust' with her), but the fact that this was the story of a young woman who had the courage and heart to face down her detractors, who armed with only prejudice, rumour and innuendo thought nothing to destroying her reputation and making her life quite hellish. Kira behaves throughout the novel with a kind of grace and dignity that is completely admirable -- rooting for Kira to attain all that she desired was not a problem at all! At the same time she is no doormat -- I really enjoyed the scenes where she tells the duke off! Another aspect of the novel that I rather liked was that Ms Bradley provided Kira with a younger brother (probably the hero of the next 'Strictly' installation, though I wouldn't at all mind reading a future 'Strictly' book that featured James as the romantic hero) who cared enough to fight for her honour and to clear her name. The last couple of chapters when the duke finally comes to his senses made for satisfying reading as well, though I would have preferred it if there had been a lot more groveling on his part. Kira was too softhearted! But than she was a woman in love, who had finally attained her heart's desire.

All in all, in spite of my frustration at the duke's shoddy behaviour, I have to admit that "Strictly Forbidden" was an enthralling and captivating read, not to be missed.

Gavin Daggett, Duke of Cropthorne, is thrown into a tailspin with the arrival of his cousin James' fiancée. Kira Melbourne is considered quite scandalous after having spent two full days with the roguish Lord Vance. And there is nothing Gavin detests more than scandal. However, when Gavin first sees Kira he is instantly attracted to her exotic beauty. As head of the family, he must find a way to stop the upcoming nuptials and his reaction to his cousin's betrothed adds to his dilemma.
Kira has spent her life as an outcast because of her foreign heritage given to her by her Persian mother. Now, after an incident with a man she trusted, she is an outcast in London society. So when James, a tender and caring clergyman, offers her a respectable marriage, she accepts, hoping that one day love will come.

As soon as Kira arrives at Norfield Park, she clashes with her fiancée's stern cousin and refuses to give in to his demands to call off the marriage. But she is aware of Gavin's striking good looks and is vulnerable to the attention the handsome Duke turns on her. Gavin swears to do anything to stop the scandal this marriage will bring to the family. His plan of seduction changes his life, and what he has believed to be a curse in his hot blood laying dormant for years.

Ohhhh, I loved this book!! Set in the London ton, I enjoyed it as much as I did ONE WICKED NIGHT, also by Shelley Bradley. STRICTLY FORBIDDEN is an intriguing story, perfectly plotted with steamy satisfying ... scenes and an absorbing romance that I never wanted to end. I am an insatiable reader and I want more from this talented writer. This was a truly wonderful book which I would give many stars!!

I really liked the book, but was a little surprized when I tried to find the whole book of one stories and couldn't. I even searched here, on Amazon, and couldn't find it. I thought you could find the book and read the rest but there was nothing that said these were only stories and not clips of full length books. If you can help me I'd really appreciate it. The clip I wanted to read more of was "Gate of the Damned" by Janet Fox.

An anthology can be ruined by one or two stories. Bradley has a knack for picking the finest. She sets a standard for this anthology which she keeps throught the whole series. This series has led me to sample further works by the authors inside. I discovered Jennifer Roberson, Dianne Paxson, Robin Bailey, and many others through their stories in the series and the intros by MZB. I only which the amazing Charles Saunders was more prolific. Buy it, sit back and enjoy.

This is a great compilation of stories. Period. It's nice to see good writing with main characters as women, but it is the overall quality of the writing that has drawn me back to series, not the theme of it.

The Sword And Sorceress series is a series of collections of short stories, of traditional "sword and sorcery" style, but with women as main protagonists. Marion Zimmer Bradley always explains in her introductions that she began the series because in traditional sword and sorcery, what female characters are to be found are invariably "bad conduct prizes" for the (male) main characters.

It's a fine series, and this volume may just be the best; there was not a bad story in the lot, although I wasn't really taken with "Shimmering Scythe", by Vera Nazarian, and had serious doubts about the ending of "A Matter Of Names", by Cynthia Ward. But I WAS very taken by "Oaths", by Lynn Morgan Rosser, perhaps the best of a very good lot, and there were also a number of stories that continued the exploits of characters found in previous volumes, all of which were a pleasure, a renewal of old friendships: "The Sick Rose", by Dorothy Heydt, continues the adventures of Cynthia, the witch of Syracuse; "Skin Deep" by Heather Rose Jones, continues the stories of Laaki, Asholi, and Eysla the skin-changers; "Spring Snow", by Diana Paxson, the adventures of Bera, apprentice Norse wisewoman; and "The Dragon's Horde", by Elisabeth Waters and Raul S. Reyes, the adventures of Princess Rowena and the dragon. If you've enjoyed any of the other collections in this series, you are more than very likely to enjoy this one; if you're not familiar with the series, this is as good an introduction as any.

Reading this book, I found it difficult to put down. I really enjoy a good short story, and I rarely find a book in which I like ALL the short stories. An Excellent read!

Read "The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home" before you go house-hunting and you'll save time and money and avoid a lot of headaches. The author provides a crystal-clear, enjoyably readable, step-by-step, logical approach to home buying. His menu of financing options is astonishingly comprehensive, and he even explains how the reader can determine the amount of mortgage he/she can afford. You won't get bamboozled by all the hype you might hear from loan officers (as I did the last time the last time I bought a home). The insider information I got from this book was fantastic -- and easy to understand!

Even though I've now bought my dream home with the aid of this book, Perlis's suggestions keep coming to the forefront. I'm following the book's advice on how to maintain an older home, how to make space more functional, and how to maximize my home's value with a minimum of cash. As with everything else in this book, the author is right on target.

(By the way, the correct title is "The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home," not "Your First Home," as Amazon advertises. In fact, any homebuyer, however experienced, will find this a most helpful and valuable book.)

The best of the four home-buying books I read or skimmed. The key is that it is unbiased and written from the buyer's perspective, usually with humor. Most other books are not. Exposes a lot of the unseen motives from the various players in the process, particularly real estate agents. Has lots of useful tips and is more comprehensive than most similar books.

It looks like the home real estate industry is changing rapidly with the MLS/Internet and discount realtors popping up. It seems I've seen more "for sale by owner" signs and/or discount realtor signs than standard realtor signs during my recent home search. It is clear that it no longer costs a realtor 5-7% of home price to market a house with Internet (especially expensive ones), so something has to give somewhere. They ought to update this book every few years.

The unoffical guide is definetly unoffical. It is the only book I have found that explains the home buying as a professional friend would. It contains a copy of the actual documents the banks and mortgage brokers use. The process takes you through the steps of getting prepared physically and mentally, financial aspects,what to shop for, closing, then moving in and fixing it up. It's the only book I've read that gives specific details of how to fix or work with credit problems. If you are a first time or any time buyer I strongly suggest the unoffical guide to buying a home.

This book is a waste of time, especially if you have anything complicated in your home-buying transaction (and who doesn't?). It's also sexist - they actually recommend that two people in a couple (because obviously anyone who is buying a house must be in a heterosexual relationship) go and read _men are from mars, women are from venus_. spare me.

When my fiancee and found out that our rental house is going to be demolished (2 weeks before our wedding), we decided to "Try" to buy a house. The first thing I did was buy this book. It has helped us realize that yes, we can afford it, how it may even be financially good for us! All of my fears about being uprooted were calmed, and as we read each chapter together each night I feel more and more confident about the process and pitfalls of finding and buying our very first home! This book has answered EVERY question we have had, and pointed out situations to watch for that would have otherwise been unknown to us. We're going to prove to all of our friends and family that we CAN do it, and that we did it ourselves (with the help of a little book).

It would have made for much more interesting reading if Moore had advanced the thesis that there's nothing left for the Irish Catholics of Ulster because the Scotch-Irish Protestants defeated them at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and have been mercilessly ruling over the Catholics ever since. The only time Moore gets close to this theme is in the cinema scene, which is the only time in the book the word "Scots" is used, one will note. From page 86:

"The Queen. A few claps. More. The house applauding, louder and louder. Miss Hearne and Mr Madden sat with their hands in their laps. No handclaps for her, a foreign queen. Let them give back the Six Counties and then we'll clap. Irish people, a disgrace, applauding like that. But Protestants, what can you expect, Scots Protestants, black-hearted all."

Because she represents a defeated people and religion, there's nothing for Judith Hearne and her ilk to do but to pretentiously drink themselves to death as they go on endlessly about their Papist faith, which is irrelevant in the modernist, 20th century world in which the story is set.

Some explanatory political themes would have been nice here--the book is set in bloody Northern Ireland, after all! And Moore was raised there--no one from Belfast could truly be so completely ignorant of politics as he pretends to be.

Yes, the Scots-Irish Ulster Protestants can be seen as black-hearted, as Judith reflects in the cinema, and no doubt their warrior history provides much of the explanation for their having ruled in Belfast for over three hundred years now--to say nothing of the waves of Scotch-Irish immigration to America, where they cleared the frontier, kicked the English back across the ocean during the Revolution, and have continued to play such a significant role in the founding and flourishing of the United States.

These historical facts are perhaps what the Irish Catholic Brian Moore could not stand, which is the probable cause for his denuding his novel of the political and historical themes that would've given it intellectual and therefore literary meaning.

And so what do we have left? A novel--the apparent point of which is for the reader to sit rapt before an unfolding horror--a tale rendered highly readable through narrative strategies alone, with no discernible underlying intellectual point or context--this perfectly describes nothing more than a Stephen King novel, and is no doubt the reason why Brian Moore is considered a minor novelist to this day. He writes neither on the large canvas nor with intellectual or political resonance.

This slender novel is a master class in fiction writing. I've read it at least ten times, and every time I learn something new. Mr. Moore's command of fictional technique is astonishing. He uses the basic elements of the craft (point of view, narrative voice, recurring details, etc.) like brushstrokes in a painting. Bit by bit, sentence by sentence, Judith Hearne and the people around her are revealed. The plot moves forward with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy, and when the climax comes, we are devastated. We know everything there is to know about this plain, brave, flawed woman, and we know that things could not have turned out otherwise for her.

In addition to its flawless execution, this book reveals an almost unbearable depth of compassion for human weakness and a keen understanding of human nature. While Judith Hearne may seem to belong very much to a particular time and place, we should not be so quick to label the book a period piece. We are still struggling to connect to each other, to find love and security, to reconcile faith and fact. Mr. Moore's themes are timeless. As long as there are human beings, Judith Hearne will have something to teach them. Her story gives us much to mourn about who (and what) we are, but in revealing her to us, Mr. Moore also gives us much to celebrate.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Please read it.

After cranking out a string of pot-boiler thrillers, Judith Hearne was Moore's debut venture into the world of the serious novel. Here he sought to depict the epic, cosmic conflicts that are under the surface of the most seemingly ordinary of lives. He set it squarely in 1950's Belfast, where he was raised as one of the Catholic minority. He hated Belfast, calling it a "claustrophobic, provincial backwater... trapped in the nightmare of history" and plagued equally with Protestant self-righteousness and Catholic repressiveness. All of these sentiments find their way into this, his first literary novel.
Judith, convent-raised, unmarried, and forty-something moves into Mrs. Rice's boarding house on Camden Street. It is her sixth relocation in the last few years. We find out WHY later. She teaches piano and embroidery to an ever diminishing handful of students, has very few possessions, and fewer social attachments. In fact, her only social involvement is tea with the O'Neill family on Sunday afternoons. Only later do we find how one-sided even this relationship is. The O'Neills secretly dread her visits.
We are soon to sense the brooding cloud of narrowness, plainness, loneliness, and ignorance that hovers over this poor soul. Moore captures it. Even her physical frame, he says, is "plain as a cheap clothes rack."
To sustain herself she lives in a world of religious faith and imagination... or illusion. She daydreams, and surrounds herself with iconic totems from her uneventful past. And she has a secret vice that isn't revealed until almost midway in the novel. She's a(n) _____! (I won't say).
The novel revolves around Judith's interactions with the many other residents of Mrs. Rice's home. Because of Judith's long repressed desires and vivid imagination, she is quick to assume that Mr. Madden's attentions will lead to a splendid marriage. But in their mutually illusive worlds they are both nursing dissimilar motives as regards each other. And meanwhile, Judith is being horribly set up for a total spiritual/emotional breakdown by a certain nefarious Iago-like presence in the home. As a result of her mounting disappointments she questions (abandons?) her religious faith, and is led in increasing measure to wallow in her secret vice... the real "passion" of Judith Hearne. And it is indeed, partaken in abject loneliness. Even the Church, represented by the tactless Father Quigley, rejects her cry for help. He heaps penitence and guilt where forgiveness and grace are needed.

This novel is brilliant in its portrayal of a woman at the very outer limits of disillusionment. Trapped by the passage of time. In the end, she looks in the mirror and smiles a costly smile. It has cost her the illusion, the pretence, and the ill-founded faith of all her years.

It cannot be emphasized enough what a masterpiece this book is. It is packed tight like a little bomb and like a bomb it explodes in your hands. Writers especially should take note of this book: not a single word is wasted. Every sentence furthers the plot -- that of a desperate and near-hysterical drunken Irish spinster who is feebly holding onto her faith. It is also one of those rare books that manages to be both literary and plot-driven. Merciless tension is sustained throughout.

The writing will remind you of early Joyce (Dubliners) coupled with the pained humor of Chekhov. It is rich in imagery and detail and the pacing is perfect. Unforgettable characters abound, from the Yank-wannabe cripple James Madden, to the pudgy, poetaster Bernard Rice, to Judith herself, a shabby-genteel dame who only wants to be loved.

This is classic writing by a great writer who deserves a wider audience.

What a novel! Here in a tantalyzing weaving of different characters' perspectives, we learn about the various levels of Belfast society and its intolerances. The main character is an Irish woman who let her shorthand slide, so she teaches piano for a living, and continues to lose her students steadily as the children's parents discover she has alcohol on her breath.

Surreptiously she takes long bus rides to the edge of town for whiskey-buying expeditions, and has to take the clinking bottles back up the stairs of her lonely room. She seems to have no real friends or interests, and is moving from boarding house to boarding house as her alcoholism is discovered; landlords kick her out. What is new and exciting in this parish is the older brother of the landlady just back from 30 years of living in New York, making allusions to his life in the hotel business. She finds out by accident that he was a doorman for a hotel. He'd done every job he could find in the rough streets of NYC, and thought his doorman job the best ever he'd found, until he was injured by a car hitting him, giving him one bum leg dragging. These and many other details are piled up upon the reader through various characters' gossiping with each other. For example, the 30-year-old Mama's boy, son of the landlady, is screwing the 16-year-old maid, and hangs out all day with no job, telling tale tales and spreading malicious humors to keep his own reputation clean. The ex-NYer was a very disappointed fellow who started drinking at bars, just to stay out of the house, realizing that he had no place in his old home country, neither in his small village in Donegal, nor in Belfast, so he mutters about "going down to Dublin", but never does he leave. He can live rent-free at his sister's, and she resents it o boy!

The sad decline into a drinking binge of this woman is quite a feat; one suspects the writer must have himself experienced it or known someone who'd done the same. It's peculiarly Irish, how far down she goes, in her last faint hopes for romance, crushed when the NY'er begins to ignore her when he realizes she has no money and can't be a business partner.

And so it goes... better not give away anymore of the plot.

Anne Foster, a faculty wife who has put her own career on hold, has recently returned to work and is compiling the catalog for an upcoming exhibition of painter Caroline Watson. Her job entails several days of travel each week so she must find someone to watch her two young children. With some misgivings, she hires Laura Post, a disturbed young woman with a troubled past.

This is a complex book that explores the balance of meaningful work and motherhood in women's lives. As Anne researches the life of Caroline Watson, she discovers striking parallels with her own life. Most of the major characters in the book work from choice rather than necessity. Some, such as Watson, driven by genius, easily put the work first. Others, like Anne's neighbor, devote themselves to their children. Anne uneasily tries to balance the two.

Mary Gordon has a great eye for character. She has sympathy for those on the margin of society, such as Laura and Helene, one of the professors at the University. Her characters are not at all simplistic but a mix of good, bad, and sometimes downright irritating qualities.

If you want a challenging, thought-provoking novel, which is beautifully written, I recommend this book.

I can't understand why no one has reviewed this book either so I thought that I'd lend you some support by posting a couple of words.

I think this is Mary Gordon's best book but what makes if good is also what makes it different from her other novels - the babysitter narrative gives this book a darker thriller aspect which balances Gordon's usual narrative. The result is a book you can't put down and a must read if you have't picked it up yet.

The novel is about a couple who hired a babysitter without an interview first.The lady keeps complaining to her husband about being busy, and not having the time to take care of other things.
The couple keeps moving from one place of location to another, and they will move with the babysitter too.
The couple have arguments with the babysitter on how to raise their children. The babysitter thinks she has been sent by God so she has to raise the children in a religious way, which leads the novel to be interesting and intriguing to the reader.

I'm in the midst of this book, and am savoring it. Mary Gordon's use of the language makes me able to read Men and Angels at a more measured pace than what I usually have == her phrasing is so precise and her scenes and characters are jarringly familiar.

She describes the intensity of mother love so well, how all consuming it is when your children are small, how there's no question that you treasure them above life itself -- of course they're more important than anything.

I love also the way she looks at the mystery of how someone can be a good parent to one child but not another. How bereft a child in such a situation feels, and how angry the parent -- for not living up to such a basic requirement and instinct -- loving one's own child well enough. I also love the way she paints Laura, the young babysitter whose mother hated her, who believes herself to be beloved by God, who despises every adult except Anne, the book's central figure, and who is clearly going to do something awful. Laura is so despicable and so pitious at the same time that you don't know what to do with her.

It's interesting that psychology has in recent years verified Gordon's view, with the experts saying that yes, the personalities of parents and children sometimes don't mesh, and can get in the way of a good enough relationship. It's something that people took for granted in earlier centuries, but in the past 100 years or so, of course it's unforgivable to not love your children equally.

This is a wonderful book about love and the human condition, and I'd be still reading it now except that I read for the past hours on a Sunday afternoon, read until I'm seeing everything double, and squinting to see the print.

I can hardly believe I'm the only person to review this book. I often check this page simply because I am so curious to hear other people's views on a novel that has stayed with me for over nine years. It is an intense and thoughtful study of women, art, religon, and motherhood...unsettling and disturbing at times, but richly wriiten and full of intriguing characters. I would urge anyone who has found Ms. Gordon's later work somewhat unsatsifying to look into this provocative novel.

Yes, I realize that this book was written before we learned much about Mars. Ignorance I can forgive, and speculation can be a wonderful thing (especially in science fiction). But MZB's arrogance and contempt for expert scientific opinion detracted from an otherwise engaging and entertaining tale. Still, it's an excellent example of sf from that era.

I remembered bits and pieces of the book from reading it years ago, but did not remember the name. I was sooooo excited to find it in a used bookstore and be able to read it again. The book begins with the main character having amnesia. You really feel what he is going through trying to find out what has happened. I loved finding things out along with the character. The mystery unfolds in a chilling and exciting way. This book is one that is really hard to put down, even when you've read it before. I hope others can find it so they can enjoy it as much as I did.

A really good mix of science fiction and mystery and the key is of course, the Brass Dragon, it hold the key to the future of mankind

I remembered bits and pieces of the book from reading it years ago, but did not remember the name. I was sooooo excited to find it in a used bookstore and be able to read it again. The book begins with the main character having amnesia. You really feel what he is going through trying to find out what has happened. I loved finding things out along with the character. The mystery unfolds in a chilling and exciting way. This book is one that is really hard to put down, even when you've read it before. I hope others can find it so they can enjoy it as much as I did.

This was the first sci. fi. book I ever read.(1977). I read it 20 times in a row. It has fantastic characters and an excellent storyline. It combines elements of sci. fi. adventure, horror, thriller, romance and drama. From the first paragraph, it captivates the reader. There are no 'slow' spots. Great for ages 10 and over. Adults will enjoy this book as much as younger readers. Not a long story. It's a shame there is no sequel. Do yourself a favour- read this book. Your life will never be the same again!

P.S My sister wrote this, not me.

Tim Bradley has done an excellent job of integrating fun and science. His artwork is whimsical and scientifically accurate - my favorite is the Velociraptor on the couch! A great way to get your kids to learn something while they are having fun.

I found this book to be very informative and entertaining. My eight year old loves the illustrations and finds the text easy to read and comprehend. It is an amusing way to explain facts about dinosaurs without the typical boring format. I would recommend this book to any parent who has a child fascinated with dinosaurs.

I found this book to be very informative and entertaining. My eight year old loves the illustrations and finds the text easy to read and comprehend. It is an amusing way to explain facts about dinosaurs without the typical boring format. I would recommend this book to any parent who has a child fascinated with dinosaurs.

"The Care and Feeding of Dinosaurs" takes a refreshing and novel approach to explaining some of the basics about dinosaurs to children of all ages. What better way to get kids involved and really THINKING about the subject than to have them imagine that they actually had a dinosaur for a pet. Perhaps the best part about this book is the humility expressed by its author. Too many times we hear learned paleontologists ramble on and on about the Mesozoic in absolutes... "T'rex was thus and so... Triceratops looked like this..." Rarely do we hear a dinosaur writer use the words "probably, perhaps, most likely." This book invites the reader (young and old) to do a little imagining on their own. My only complaint was that there wasn't more to read. Perhaps we have a sequel to look forward to in the near future.

Hmmmmm, how best to express my sentiments on this delightful little book. The Care of Feeding of Dinosaurs isn't what you might think, not exactly scientifically correct in many aspects. but for one who wants to read an enjoyable, albeit short, book on some current knowledge we have regarding what dinosaurs ate, and simple patterns of behavior, a child might find this book entirely desirable. Personally I would not have bought it if I had previously read it, but it is somewhat humerous and the illustrations, though badly innacurate, are fun too.

This whole system (Tri-Stat dX) is a great open rules system, what the other reviews may say about rating it a 1 don't do it justice, it is a critically acclaimed system used for Silver Age Sentinel's and BESM (Big Eyes Small Mouth) Game systems, it is worth looking into just for that, what makes this book a definate buy, is the settings, which are inventive, and breath new life into the cyberpunk genre, not all of them are for the faint of heart, and are very gritty, most being negative-utopia's. I recomend this to anyone who is into the cyperpunk genre.
5 out of 5

Having been an avid roleplayer for over 18 years, games have come and gone, some good, some bad, but most are about the same. This book, and the system that governs it is simply different. The boys and girls over at Guardians of Order (the publisher), really must know what they are doing, because when I started to read the Ex Machina book and the Tri-stat dx system core book, it was like a breath of fresh air was put back in my gaming enthusiasm. Honestly speaking, my desire to game anymore has been diminishing for about 5 years now do to the same old storylines and boring systems that I have been using form the beginning, but the Tri-stat system is so unbelievably flexible and simple, and that it takes away all the limits that are imposed upon other cookie-cutter systems. Not to mention, that once coupled with the inventive and wonderfully written ideas and settings that are contained in this particular tome, you have a combo that really is exciting.

The Ex Machina book is loaded with information and comes with four, yes thats four, different settings to run your cyberpunk dreams. Keep in mind that these are just examples and you can easily create one of your own, if properly motivated. Excellent writting, unique points of view, and vivid descriptions make this book a home run for anyone looking for a change to a better way of doing things. Buy this book and support a company that obviously is more interested in thier work than the bottom line, as they give the core rules for free on thier website!

Ex Machina Review:
Ever look at Cyberpunk games and think, ?Oh ma Gosh! Like, gag me with a spoon, like, this is so like yesterday.? Let's face it, the genre is so Big Hair, Culture Club, Japan Inc, Duran Duran, Ramones, and leg warmer'd out it's just sad. I look at Cyberpunk and I think; ?why is there an image of Richard Simmons sweating to the Replicants in my mind??

So why am I looking at a new Cyberpunk game, when I have this bias that the genre is, in essence, a deader horse than the Japanese economy? Largely because this game seems to agree ? this is the cyberpunk genre, and you will recognize it fairly quickly upon opening the book, but it is the genre as we see it in today's science fiction, and not trapped in the 80s like older competing games and some of the other new rivals. Nor is it, thankfully, like another current competitor has been described to me; so obscure that you just can't wrap your head around what's going on and how to play it.

The book is split into sections for the genre history, the game rules, running and playing the genre, and finally ? four complete and separate settings with entirely different themes. Most of the past Cyberpunk RPGs gave you a single predetermined setting around which the entire game revolved, so this itself is something of a notable step in a new direction.

There may be sixteen chapters to Ex Machina, but I'm going to cover it by the major sections.

The Genre Section:
In the genre section we get a ten page introduction into the history and themes of the Cyberpunk genre, starting in its pre-roots of the seventies, moving into the labeling of the genre around the time of Gibson's Neuromancer, and eventually wrapping up with the modern 'post-Cyberpunk' genre.

There is some coverage of how the genre has been forced to change with times ? after all much of what 80s Cyberpunk considered radical is part of the mundane reality of today's world ? Wireless, Hand held Computers, Sprawl, the Net, Genetically modified foods, Globalized Mega Corporations, lessoning of nations and nationality ? or are experimental but real such as Cloning, optical computers, synthetic but real diamonds, single molecule machines, and Neural interfaces. Modern Cyberpunk still looks to the dark side of tomorrow, but the tomorrow of today is not the tomorrow of yesterday.

From there we get a bit on the dX game engine Guardians of Order uses as one of its two house systems, the usual 'what is roleplaying' commentary, and a brief intro on each of the four settings. These intros wet your taste for what is to come, although the IOSHI entry is so vague as to leave at least me completely confused yet throughly intrigued ? seeming to talk about skill chips and split patents rather than the society thus resulting.

Tri-Stat rules for the Cyberpunk genre:
Tri-Stat has managed to solidly establish itself as -the- dominant cinematic rules light RPG. All past Cyberpunk games have been neither of these two factors, which brings us to a natural point of suspicion about this new RPG - are we looking at a bag of apples trying to be oranges?

I'm going to try and show that while it may be the ideal game of apples, it has managed to conquer the realm of oranges as well - that this has ended up as the the best take on a Cyberpunk rules set I've seen to date despite some problems I did end up having with it. As for my ability to compare, I had R. Tal's Cyberpunk 2013 within days of its release, I had a similar jump on for Cyber Hero, Shadowrun, GURPS Cyberpunk, and even ICE's Cyberspace. I went through the 80s, and for Science fictions fans, the Cyberpunk genre was our pet rock and I admit I was there with everyone else.

• Tri-stat has a very simple core - you have three stats, Body, Mind, and Spirit. In any task you roll two dice and hope to get under a number determined by your value in those stats plus whatever skill is relevant. Further rules allow for opposed rolls, degrees of success, and so on. Injury is a hit point system, and damage is always going to be ACV plus 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent of some number - barring critical hits, where ACV is more or less your 'base to-hit' number.
• Characters are built on points without classes or levels, and a defects system exists to give you more points by defining weak points in the character.
  
  The skills list is large, and has specializations to give it further focus - if you know law, you could then specialize into a field of law. Guns, a type of gun. Etc.
  
  Characters get their real game mechanical depth from a system of 'attributes' which functions as a combination of perks, powers, special gear, and other unusual abilities. On first glance many of these will seem out of place in the Cyberpunk genre. Attributes such as Mind Control, Healing, and Creation (creates objects) for example, on the surface take leaps of logic to fit in. However note that what you are looking at here is a 'game effects' system ? where you take attributes and assign to them a special effect. Mind Control might have limits to be a drug induced effect, while Healing and Creation might represent nanites. Caution should be used by a GM with the attributes section. Tri-stat does not 'game balance' its meta system all that thoroughly and you can easily build game breaking concepts ? such as a Special Attack with both Accuracy and Autofire combined with Combat Technique: Accuracy. Taking both types of accuracy thus enables a character to Trick Shot an Autofire attack and possibly do hundreds of points of damage every round reliably if the attack's base damage is high enough (such as being to deliver 10 hits every round of a 20 point attack ? the second lowest setting). This may be seen as a system buster by some ? a reason to avoid tri-stat ? however this lack of strong built in balance also allows you to simulate many more unusual concepts. Provided you have a GM who pays attention and players willing to compromise, the balance issues can be easily governed and you will be able to reap the benefits of so open a game engine.
  
  The attributes section also contains a list of tri-stat dX attributes not found in Ex Machina ? many of these, such as Teleport and Pocket Dimension are obvious, but others such as Computer Scanning and Owns Big Mecha seem as if they really should have been in the list. Computer Scanning I could understand from looking it up in Silver Age Sentinels ? it is something of a short cut to getting data out of machines that runs right past the difficulty of breaking into a secure system. Owns Big Mecha however, seems to me the ideal way of representing vehicles, and without explanation for its cut I was left a bit confused.
  
  An explanation for that does come somewhat in the templates section. Templates are prebuilt packages to shorten the work of character creation, and one of them -The Teleoperator- suggests using Item Of Power to represent vehicles. The templates are used to give us professions, non humans (such as androids, bioroids, AIs, and so on), and cyberware. I'll cover cyberware under gear, as for the other templates each is built as a list of things you apply to the character, a total point cost, and notes on customization. The list includes all of the 'basic assumptions' of the genre as classic Cyberpunk understands it, with more templates in the four settings for less common ideas.
  
  Finally in character generation we have the earlier mentioned defects. GURPS and Hero players will know these as disadvantages. In tri-stat they -usually- each come on a scale of one to three and are bought either for specific attributes or the character in general. Some of them are specific as in GURPS, such as Phobia, and others are more general like in Hero, such as Restriction. The chapter begins with a discussion on their role in the game, and guidelines for the limits of how many of them you can get (normally from 3 to 5). Taking them will normally give your character 1 to 3 more points each, and given that the norm of Ex Machina is a 75-100 point character, they will not be a major part of your point total ? viable characters can thus be made without them, much like in Mutants and Masterminds rather than what you see in GURPS or Hero.
• Combat ? or, is this Video Game Cyberpunk?
  I've heard it said that tri-stat doesn't offer enough tactical options to make for exciting game play in combat. On the list of facts that agree with this the game has only three stats which all play equal importance in combat accuracy and damage, only four stages for damage (25, 50, 75, or 100% of maximum), and movement does not require a play mat ? in fact with fast enough characters it can become awkward. Countering the claim however is a list of maneuvers and modifiers about as long as that seen in d20. It is a hit point system, but there are optional rules for tracking impairment from injury. Armor stops damage, and there are no hit locations though called shots can be used to target specifics. On the downside the team attack from Silver Age Sentinels is not in this game, but it really doesn't fit the genre anyway. The system is cinematic and not exactly all that gritty. It's lethality will vary depending on gear and attributes chosen. It is probably not as lethal as R. Tal's Cyberpunk 2013/2020, but more lethal than Shadowrun 1.0 (but not 3.0).
  
  Consider the average character will have around 80 health points [(Body + Soul) x 5], and that the average gun does 13-14 damage per hit [ACV 8 + 62.5% of 8 or 10]. It will take about 7 hits to kill.
  The 62.5 I got from assuming that most hits will do 50% or 75% of max, only every now and then will you get 25% or 100%, and very rarely a crtical (200% once every 64 attacks).
  
  On the other hand, a character with martial arts is likely to do the same damage (massive damage level 1), and if they have a cyberarm, 5 more than that per average hit. A ranged character could in theory also get massive damage to reflect a marksman, and without such melee is more than likely going to be the most lethal option present.
  
  To the rescue on this built in lack of danger to combat comes the shock system ? whereby if you take more than a certain amount of damage in a single hit you go into shock for a while and become a sitting duck. Coupled with this is a system whereby the same amount of damage will cause you to start bleeding out and eventually die if you do not get medical attention. On downside of that is once you start bleeding you will ALWAYS need surgery or eventually die.
  
  Even with the variety of maneuvers, the shock system, and the options for injury there are still very few variables to track, so it does play fast, and you will rarely get bogged down in book lookup during combat.
  
  Now consider the classic test from Shadowrun 1.0 ? can Mary Joe NPC kill herself? If a typical human takes a light gun, puts it to her head and shoots, what will happen in Ex Machina? In the real world this is usually instant death. In Ex Machina Mary is likely to have a Health of 40 and do 12 damage ? assuming she can hit with a total attack aimed called shot (a roll of -4 or less on 2d8 - so she can only shoot her head if she rolls a 2 unless the GM gives her a difficulty modifier or assumes no roll needed). Even with a critical hit she will still be alive. She will however, critical or not, exceed her shock value and thus begin to bleed out - hitting zero in 28 rounds (~ 2minutes 20 seconds). In addition if you use the optional injury rules she will have trouble not going into 'shock' and thus being unable to act for a few rounds while bleeding out. Otherwise if she makes a shock roll she will still be free to take actions during this time ? such as drive to a hospital and get patched up. The saving grace on this comes if she has, as suggested on page 84 for henchmen, the "Not so Tough" defect. If she had it at 3 BP, even a non critical could kill her in one shot given the rules for Catastrophic damage. So Mary Joe can commit suicide, but only if she is a henchman will she go down fast.
  
  The choice to use or not use the injury rules will play a large role in how deadly the system plays out. If you want gritty and brutal use them. People won't die instantly, but they will wear down very fast. You could also consider lowering the points given to PCs, or assuming the Massive Damage attribute is common to anyone who makes heavy use of guns. The system at its default is fairly cinematic and non lethal to PCs and major NPCs, but turn on the right options and you can make it deadly.
• Gear
  The technology chapter starts with looking at the hard science versus dramatic and technology advancement level of your setting and using this to consider what is likely to be easy or hard to find, if at all. Next we get information on setting up background technologies ? power sources, the state of biomedicine, and nanotechnology. Then come the goods. Ex Machina traces gear not with cash, but in an abstraction through the Gadgets attribute. Each rank in Gadgets lets you have a number of gadgets ? minor and major. Minor gadgets are things somewhat hard or expensive to get, and major gadgets are things usually illegal, restricted, or otherwise very difficult to acquire. Normal everyday stuff is Mundane, and your character can have as much of that as you can explain away. In Ex Machina, you do not have to track how many pairs of underwear you bought, or even your cellphone / PDA, but you do have to track your gun, your wheels, and your grenade launcher. This is another aspect of the cinematic nature of the tri-stat system and honestly ? it is a welcome relief. Most newer modern and future age games are moving on to abstract wealth systems, but players of older Cyberpunk games are all too used to tracking their Japan Inc. dollars for every little toothbrush (more than likely you didn't actually go that far down, but officially you were supposed to)... The gear present in the book is fairly standard stuff for the genre today. If you haven't updated your understanding of Cyberpunk since the 80s, some of it will seem advanced ? such as having cellphones so cheap your character can strap a few thousand onto himself as a fashion statement, or having a Net that allows for wireless access. Yeah, its about time the future caught up with 1995. You get a good solid list of toys for your characters here, but you will need several ranks in gadgets to get more than a small selection. A lot of things which are Mundane are simply not listed, so a downside is that you don't have a style and fashion list like many other Cyberpunk RPGs did. The vehicles section, after giving us a list to buy in the normal manner presents an optional system for buying them as 'items of power,' and notes this can be used to for powered armor suits as well ? and then gives a few examples of such. That one is is probably most likely to see use among the anime crowd, but it is nice to see the idea handled.
  
  I'll step back for a second and look at Cyberware ? unlike other gear cyberware is acquired as if it were a template of attributes. You pay points for each bit of cyberware that has an actual game effect. Biotech works much the same. By contrast Wetware ? skills and personas on chips or copied into implanted hard drives are handled using the Gadgets method of other gear. Nothing in the system makes the acquisition of Cybernetics dehumanizing (about time too), nor does anything prevent the adaptation of subtle or minor cyberware. Tri-stat's attributes are something of a meta-system for building powers, and you can thus put in just about anything. The text of the chapter also covers designing new Cyberware, customizing what you have for 'off-brand' goods, the medical process of installing cyberware and biotech, fire sharing your wetware, recording your memories and uploading your mind.
• Networking ? or, the bane of Cyberpunk gaming
  Nearly every system for handling networks in past proved to be a failure for players. Usually on the end of leaving the group sitting around while the GM handles some video game like abstraction for the one or two members who operate in a cyberspace written by people who've never been online.
  
  Ex Machina does present such a system for those who want it, but it also presents a second system rooted more in researching passwords, doing online research, stealing personal data chips, and doing actual 'hacking.' This can be done at the keys or neurally, and either way it works through skill checks to find and manipulate data while avoiding detection and security. There's no iconic interface, no game of Pac-Man.
  
  The second system is that iconic system created by early Cyberpunk authors who had no computer knowledge, and yet now popular with the public imagination of gamers ? even as the rest of the world gets online and finally realizes how silly it was. It works as a massive 3D world laid over the real world where you wander around with your avatar battling other avatars and will seem familiar to fans of the 80s RPGs. Game effects wise it reminds me of the method used in Cyber Hero ? you use a dimension hopping power placed into a device and an assume an alternate form with a new set of abilities once there. The system in Cyber Hero was amazingly unpopular with Hero fans of the day, but this system looks to be handled a little better. It still suffers the classic problem of sidelining the other players ? unless you run the VR side by side with the real time (as in how it works in the IOSHI setting). Me, I intend to use the first system, the one based on advancing actual real understandings of computer technology into a neural interface.

GMing the Genre:
Chapter 12 of the book discusses GMing Ex Machina, and begins with the usual stuff about being interesting, making campaigns and adventures, handing out experience, and thinking of themes. There's a very activist stance taken here ? the book not only suggests you cheat and make house rules, it declares that doing so is the only way to be a good GM; ?If you want your players to think you are the best Game Master in the world, you only have one option: cheat, and cheat often. ... there are no rules about 'being fair'? (p. 145). Most of us know better than to say something like that ? the world is full of a variety of different styles and some of them fudge the rules, some don't. Whether or not they do is not the best way to judge their success. Beyond that, the other advice is good. If you find yourself liking Ex Machina or any other RPG from Guardians of Order and this statement on rules is a little heavy handed for you this company is probably going to end up being a frustrating experience. Whenever rules are incomplete or fail in some test the usual response is to suggest ignoring them without explaining their normal application or even how best to judge when to do this. Unfortunately the same response tends to follow when the rules -are- working, but you don't understand them... It's a good rules set, and a design group with good ideas, but they have a frustrating way of presenting themselves. If you're a Dramatist GM this is perfect for you ? it works great if the goal is an engaging story -above- all else. If you're a Gamist it might work for you if you have a good sense of when to change rules for gaming action / challenges, but can blow up on you if you misjudge it or are inconsistent. The Simulationist GM however, is likely to find this stance very difficult ? the perspective would seem to be that modeling a system to accurately simulate the needs of the genre is the wrong approach, that Simulationist gamers are in error in their style choice.

One actual issue I do see with the game is in the advancement system. It is slow, possibly painfully so. Roughly speaking you will get about 1.1 character points every 4 sessions. It will take about a year of weekly play to go up by 1/7 of your character's original points, with that total you will be able to perhaps buy about 3 ranks of attributes assuming the average costing attribute. From a GMs point of view ? you should thus make sure starting characters have enough points to completely capture the character concepts from day one, and assume points from experience only work to address how that concept changes, albeit slowly. That, or up the amount of experience you give out ? a common solution chosen by GMs of other tri-stat games if the online forums for them are indicative of any real world trends. Most people online give an advancement point or two per session and not every few sessions. I think I've seen as high as five in Silver Age Sentinels threads. As play of Ex Machina spreads the online community will probably come up with a norm for this issue, and I look forward to seeing the readers of this review in those discussions when they do come about (in other words, I'm telling you to get involved).

The next 5 pages of this 12 page plus 2 page art spread chapter cover GMing the Cyberpunk genre in particular as opposed to GMing in general. How to handle a genre has always been a strong point of tri-stat games ? with long and detailed essays on the topic ? and this book is no exception. We begin with an essay on what it means to be marginalized, to face prejudice, to refuse the system or try to reform it, and how protagonists become empowered. A very common complaint about Cyberpunk gaming is that it captures the Cyber and the Punk, but misses everything the two words combined stand for. This essay is where Ex Machina seeks to help you run a Cyberpunk game and not a Cybered Punks game. After this we get essays on overcoming human limits, getting style down, and examining core elements of the genre. You get to look at grunge, the value of an information culture, branding, corporate power, the lack of clear evil, shifting cultures, lost data (I read a New York Times article on this just the other day in fact ? a prediction that the information age will actually lose mass amounts of data from conflicting storage standards and decaying media ? but the note in Ex Machina is more about the ease of digital secrets getting around when you do something as foolish as drop your keychain drive by accident ? as any resident of the Silicon Valley can attest, the plot that begins with ?you find a memory chip sitting left on the table in the cafe by the last guy...? is not all that absurd, in fact that chip is sitting on my desk right now), and the general ubiquitous nature of tech. A sidebar covers organized crime and the section ends in a short inspiration list.

Finally we get 3 pages on new ways to handle your gaming fix. Here the book covers setting up a website, using email, running a game in email or chat, lan-party gaming (have the players bring their laptops), convention gaming, keeping things simple, sharing Gming, and even going freeform. This is all handled with a series of short essays that more wet your tastes than give you the full tools to do what they suggest. It is still a very handy section though ? and the information it imparts should lead you in the right direction for whatever fix you choose.

The Four Settings:
The book jumps right in, with the next four chapters each giving us one setting. Now don't think you're being shortchanged a complete setting here ? this stuff starts on page 158 and the book goes out to pa