Bradley Books

I agree with one reviewer on the subject line, but agreement ends there. I couldn't finish Stormqueen; it's simply poor story-telling. Some specifics:
* Excessive mental stream from key characters (Allart, Renata, etc.) leaves little to the imagination, and is so frequently repetitive and trite it's painful to read
* Insufficient development of other key characters (Donal, Cassandra, etc.)
* Illogical and sometimes silly use of fantasy (e.g. intense Tower sessions for tasks like charging batteries!)
* Editing is bad
* The fantasy focus is overdone and wearisome. Save yourself money and time by skipping the book and engaging in self debate on this topic: "woe-is-me-I-have-strange-fantasy-powers" / "hurray-for-me-I-have-strange-fantasy-powers".

I was happy to see this and other older stories by MZB in this form since when I first found her books, sadly, most were out of print. Thank you doing this so that others can read and enjoy her superb works!

Both of these Darkover books are set in the Age of Chaos, one thousand years after the original landfall settlement. (Darkover Landfall) Marion Zimmer Bradly did a tremendous job on both of these books. They are both full of suspense, betrayal, magic, love, and some of the strongest and well written characters that I've had the chance to read about. You will never put these books down. Bradley guides you through a fascinating world where you feel anything is possible.

Stormqueen- Dorilys Aldaran, heiress to her father's domain and ender of her mother's life, was possessed with a uncontrollable power. She could unintentionally summon lightning and create terrifying storms across the lands. Her father sent for a trained monitor to help, Renata Leynier, to teach Dorilys control over her power. Even with the additional help of a Hastor lord, Allart Hastor, with a fascinating power of his own, Dorilys may or may not prevail. This storyline was very compelling and I just couldn't put the book down. It was so suspenseful and full of emotion; it definitely was a delight to read! I certainly like the idea of powerful and strong women in this book. Overall this book was a great read and I really would recommend it to anyone who is a Sci-Fi fan.

Hawkmistress- Romilly MacAran was a very independent tomboy. When her father arranged her marriage to a utterly disgusting nobleman, she revolted. She ran away from home disguising herself as a boy. With a telepathic communication with animals, especially hawks and horses, she could easily live off the land. She gets pulled into a civil war and must find her true role in life without scarifying her morals. I'm going to have to say that I liked Hawkmistress better than Stormqueen. I felt more connected to Romilly the hawkmistress than I did Dorilys the stormqueen. Additionally, this book is more feminist than the other book, because we have Romilly, a very strong, determined young lady and we also have the strength, bravery, and heart of the Sisterhood of the Sword, women warriors. Go Girl Power! I was also deeply moved by all the emotion in this book, that I actually felt emotionally exhausted after finishing it. It feels great when you can connect to a book this way. Finally, I would recommend it to all Sci-Fi fans and also to people that love emotionally jam-packed books.

The Darkover series is becoming one of my favorite reads and I'm definitely going to keep on reading theses books! I love them!

I also have to comment on the absolutely HORRIBLE editing. Did they even edit them at all, I wonder? It really seems like not. You will probably be able to figure out what is meant by the context of the sentences. It gets really annoying though. If you can find them, I suggest finding "Stormqueen!" and "Hawkmistress!" separately and read them that way. I'm hoping this is the only Darkover Omnibus to be so badly edited. The first one, "Darkover: First Contact" was fine.

I was an avid fan of MZB's Avalon series when I stumbled on the Darkover series. Now, I am trying to collect the whole entire Darkover series which is quite hard considering there are so many and they go back to the 70s! I am lucky to have a used book store that occasionally gets them in because I would die if I had to wait for the re-releases. I like that the re-releases include more than one book. I have also tried the "Light" series (witchlight, gravelight etc) but have found that they are what I describe as "fluff" in comparison to her other works. Enjoyable, but not nearly as much as the Avalon or Darkover series.
This set is definitely one of my favorites, both of the series and of MZB's work in general. "Stormqueen" especially is my top choice. The Sage of the Renunciates are also Incredibly good. I love the fact the MZB's stories have well thought out and richly detailed storylines and incredibly strong developed characters. Her characters have flaws and are people that it is possible to relate to on some level. I wish that more authors portrayed such strong, realistic female characters. It is also great as a reader to be able to pick up any book in the series and be able to read it without having read any of its previous counterparts (especially when so many are out of print!). Each books stands on its own and presents a whole new element of the Darkovan society, while making reference to people or places from other books. I highly recommend this and any other Darkover book!

Why doesn't someone write an adult book about Matt Henson? I went looking for a biography of him and all I could find was children's books, and this one, which is apparently supposed to be an adult book, but is written on about a junior-high level. It seems like one of America's greatest black heroes should have had an adult biography written about him by now!

This book is an inspirational read. I've always been fascinated by polar explorers (especially the early ones) because of the privations they suffered, and for nothing but recognition and desire to see what hasn't yet been seen.

Juxtapose the sub-plot of a noted Naval navigator, driven to make his mark in the world, forming a relationship with a black man (very free-thinking in those days) that made both men stronger than they would have been on their own, and you have a truly a fascinating story.

It's too bad that so much has to be made of the fact that Henson was a black man, but it mattered then, and sadly, it matters now. If Peary didn't think it was issue 80 years ago, why is race still an issue? This is the question that forms an undercurrent to the story in the book. Someday, perhaps, we'll talk of Peary and Henson's exploits, and the word "black" or "white" will only be relevent when disussing seal noses and snow....

I found this book to be inspiring. I have always found 19th and early-20th century polar expeditions fascinating, and this account is a great read. The hardships endured, and the bravery required to undertake such a feat is simply amazing. Do they even make people like this anymore?

The story is gripping in an of itself, but the fact that Mr. Henson, an African-American, teamed up with a white explorer, Peary, makes it even more amazing, and it should be applauded that Peary chose his crew solely on their ability to get this incredible job done, instead of political and sociological considerations.

I recommend this book highly.

This is the life story of Matthew Henson, the Black explorer who went to the North Pole with Peary. The first-hand tales of Henson's Arctic exploits are told in straightforward prose, full of personal touches. One can almost see the twinkle in Henson's eye as he related these stories to listeners to whom the Arctic was as remote as the moon.

Henson was a key player on one Peary expedition after another from 1892 through 1909. He went with Peary virtually every step of the way on every expedition after Peary's first crossing of Greenland. Henson built sledges and other equipment, handled the dog teams, took his turn out in front by a day or more breaking trail, and, most importantly, developed a close working relationship with the Eskimos, whose assistance was the key to reaching the North Pole. Henson is not shy about his own contribution, and that view is supported by the three introductions to Dark Companion by Peary contemporaries MacMillan, Freuchen and Stefansson. These testimonials alone are reason enough to buy this book. MacMillan, a tenderfoot on the 1909 Peary expedition to the Pole and an Arctic explorer in his own right in later years, readily admitted that Peary took Henson to the pole because, with all of his experience and abilities he was the best man for the job. And Henson's courage -- whether pushing ahead with Peary despite lack of supplies, relying on hunting skills to avoid almost certain starvation, or facing constant danger from moving, crushing, and suddenly parting ice, or fighting walruses from kayaks -- is indisputable.

These Arctic accounts are available in other sources, including Henson's own book, a Negro Explorer at the North Pole, and books by Henson's fellow travelers, Peary, Bartlett, MacMillan and Borup. But only in Dark Companion can one read Henson's account of survival in another inhospitable environment -- late 19th and early 20th century America.

The Arctic was a place where Henson could contribute his full potential. Not because Peary or his white companions were civil rights crusaders, but because the environment of the north simply demanded too much to afford the luxury of limiting any person's contributions on arbitrary racial grounds. By contrast, Henson's life outside the Arctic was a struggle against diminished expectations and unspoken slurs at best and outright racial hatred at worst. But in telling the story, Henson focuses on the exception, the kindness of the sea captain who tutored him and taught him to read, as the defining influence in his life.

Upon returning to America after Peary's expedition to the pole, Henson's contribution went largely unrecognized. In fact, critics openly attacked Peary for taking a Negro on the final leg of the North Pole dash. Early on, the argument, by Cook supporters, was raised that Peary must have taken Henson because he didn't want a "credible" witness. This, the argument goes, would leave Peary free to make phony claims, since Henson would presumably be either too stupid to contradict Peary, would not dare to contradict him, or would be ignored.

Henson continues to be caught in the crossfire of modern Peary critics. To discount the possibility that Peary might have chosen Henson on merit, critics routinely have referred to him as Peary's manservant or valet. Yet Peary listed Henson as an assistant. Henson was only a "valet" once, when surveying in Nicaragua prior to 1892. Some recent critics disparage Henson's lack of "full literacy" and analyze his every statement looking for inconsistencies to prove him a "liar." Henson's recounting of his adventures to Robinson, some 40 to 50 years after the fact, does, to be sure, contain some inconsistencies in the details. Still, one wonders why some critics readily excuse what might charitably be called far greater memory lapses in the accounts of Frederick Cook, a "white man," while branding Henson's mistaken recollections as lies. But Henson never wavered on the essentials: Henson, with all his expert sledding experience, was confident that the expedition had covered the necessary distance from the last navigational observation to the Pole.

One cannot find fault with Robinson's editorial decision to let Henson's recollections speak for him. The opportunity to get Henson's detailed story, under oath, subject to cross examination, while it was fresh in his mind, was passed up when Congress, in its investigation of Peary's claim, did not bother to call Henson as a witness. History will never recover from that shameful oversight, and Robinson could not repair the damage.

This book is not about whether Henson actually stood at the pole, or only 5 or 20 miles from it. It is about one man's decision to be shaped by what was positive in his life. It is about having the courage to face every conceivable danger to participate in a great enterprise on an even playing field. It is about the satisfaction of seeing one's talents and experience put to good use, and of being the one called upon when the need was greatest -- in short, a hero. It is an inspirational story.

i must say this book initiated feelings i had not expected.
i bought the book as a source of african american history but
as i read further, i got drawn into the life of a kid from the
last vestiges of slavery who despite the obvious nefarious
conditions for a black kid during those times, was allowed to
follow a dream of exploration by gaining and earning acceptance
from those good people willing to "give the guy a chance".
This book is much more than a story of a black kid who despite
never ending verbal attacks (many to this day)did what he wished
and contributed to humanity, it is a book that proves there
are no limits whenever humans are able to forget their minor
differences and intelligently solve any predicament.
Kudos to Mr. Robinson!!!

The Clingfire Wars trilogy starts with "The Fall of Neskaya", followed by "Zandru's Forge", and finishes with this book "A Flame in Hali". Rather than reviewing each book individually, this compilation will, hopefully, provide a brief overview of the story arc as a whole.

Written around 2001, the stories collectively could be viewed as precognition of events transpiring on our Earth today. In "A Flame in Hali" circumstances of wars and conflict evolve into a complex pattern of politics, prejudices, and lust for power similar to those we see in today's world. This lust is not only for the material, but for the power of the mind over mankind. In this story the events that have defined Darkover during it's "dark ages" culminate in a new direction. Yet, it leaves one to wonder at the cyclical and repetitive nature of humankind perhaps too entrenched in ideologies and agendas to accept change regardless of the intent.

Following years of near genocide an agreement called the "Compact" was created by King Carolin Hastur and Varzil "The Good", Keeper (top psychic) of the rebuilt Tower of Neskaya. It's purpose and function was to prevent further holocaust on Darkover, that had ruined vast amounts of land and it's population. This instrument of Law was signed by the rulers of the 100 kingdoms and heralded a new age of consciousness toward all inhabitants of the planet. The "Compact" stood as testimony for past lessons learned, and served as an "Ideal" toward which all must strive. The terms of the "Compact" were tools for self governance and a guide to all toward peaceful co-existence. It specifically prohibited harm toward one another by any means beyond the reach of a sword. Conflict resolution was up close and personal.

It explicitly forbade the use of long range missiles and chemicals that had wrecked such devastation on land and man. Those forbidden elements that had been created by the mental powers of laranzu'im (psychics) in the Towers were known as "Clingfire", "Lung Rot" and "Bone water Dust". Under orders by petty warfaring kings the chemicals were manufactured, encapsulated in glass vessels and were spewed from laran (psychically) controlled aircraft. They could be seen as analogous to the bombs, ICBMs, biological warfare,etc. used in war throughout our "modern" world. The tasks of making clingfire and so forth were greatly feared and reviled by all lawful Tower inhabitants. Yet even they could not refuse to do the work since they were ruled by petty kings in the lands where their Towers existed. This conflict of mind over matter is the heart of these stories and Keepers such as Coryn, Varzil and others are faced with dire consequences if they forget that their ultimate purpose as Keepers encompass leadership, teaching, healing, and lawful service for the benefit of all.

The second book "Zandru's Forge" introduced the concept of a woman as a "Keeper" in the Towers. It is a concept disputed and territorialized by the males who had it in their heads that women were not emotionally and mentally strong enough to be a "Keeper" even if their laran (psychic) gifts were equal to a male. This archaic mind set is the core of masculine dogma which MZB so brilliantly exposes in these stories as the hogwash that it is. Yet, this reality persists in present society where women still fight the "glass ceiling" in every field of endeavor.

"A Flame in Hali" is deeply complex and fascinating in it's description of the mental manipulation by such powerful individuals gifted with laran and the devastation wrought when wrongly used. Eduin Deslucido is a gifted laranzu (psychic), sent to the Tower as a very young boy to develop his skill. He is seeded with a compulsion to seek his father Rumail Deslucido's revenge against all of the Hasturs over the war that he and his brother King Damien Deslucido and his son had started and lost to King Rafael Hastur in prior decades. The Hasturs, viewed as "gods" in Darkovan lore, are the veritable "thorn in his side" that enrages and torments him. Rumail, as an outcast filled with hate resolves to find a way to settle the "score" for the death of his brother and nephew. He disappears, marries, lives in dire poverty in a remote mountain village and begets Eduin, his heir and instrument for his irrational, bitter revenge against the Hasturs.

During his youthful days at Arilinn Tower where he is a student, Eduin travels with future king Carolin Hastur to Hali where he meets and falls in love with Dyannis. She is a highly gifted leronyn (psychic) and student who later becomes a "Keeper" at Hali. Dyannis is the only sister of Varzil "the Good" who is seen as the greatest and most compassionate Tenerezu, or "Keeper" of all time. Eduin, fueled by his father's compulsion within his mind battles against this love for Dyannis his entire life. Filled with jealousy and bitterness, he believes that Varzil has unjustly kept him from becoming a Keeper. Years later, while doing research at Hali, Dyannis innocently divulges the name and location of the sole surviving daughter of Queen Taniquel who was a Hastur. Felicia is Varzil's beloved who is in training at another tower to become a Keeper.

Eduin transfers to that Tower, gains her confidence and then nearly murders her. He satisfies both his father's revenge compulsion against the Hasturs, and his hatred for Varzil who had teleported through the Matrix to the Tower where Felicia lies in a stasis field created by Varzil to surround her while he seeks a way to reverse the damage that has caused Felicia's death coma. Eduin destroys the Tower through illegal work that crushes Felicia and nearly kills Varzil. During the ensuing chaos Eduin escapes unharmed. Thereafter, he spends years in hiding, drowning the mental torment of his father's compulsion with rot gut wine while seeking a way to fulfill it and finally free himself by destroying Varzil and Carolin Hastur. He meets another outcast laranzu in Thendara. They bond and form a "con" of major proportions to justify their own agendas.

Eduin manipulates a petty king and queen into waging warfare against the Tower at Hali, after learning that Varzil, the object of his boiling hatred, is currently residing there. Varzil, however, had left the Tower at Hali, two nights before the attack, on an errand for King Carolin of Hastur and escapes death. Dyannis does not. As her body lies burning from the clingfire dropped upon the Tower, she psychically travels to the Over world where she meets Eduin again. In those dying moments, Eduin and Dyannis reunite in spirit, and despite the terrible destruction wrought by him he finds that the woman whom he has loved/hated his entire life is his "soul" savior. When news of this holocaust at Hali reaches all inhabitants on Darkover, the horror is so immense that universal compliance with the Compact is finally achieved. This signals to all the culmination of the dedicated efforts to achieve peace on Darkover that King Carolin and Varzil have worked toward over many decades at great cost to them all.

These stories reinforce the potent consciousness that true love survives all obstacles and thrives in the "over world" of spirit. For people who are religiously oriented, this concept satisfies the desire of seeing a loved one in the afterlife. The entire trilogy will remain in my personal archive of books to read again and again. They are brilliantly conceived, executed and a powerful testament to the eternality of life on every level of it's manifestation.

I thought this book was great. In fact, all of MZB's books are just phenomenal. So, has anyone else noticed that DAW along with other publishers have switched to low quality materials for their hardcover books? The first book in the series was alright, but this one won't make you too happy. Take a look at the paper for instance. Just compare this book and the first. You won't be thrilled in about 5 years, when the newer books in this series have begun to yellow with age while the first is still in pristine condition.
I hate this new trend with book publishers just to save a buck. None of us get a deal on the price, but they can sell inferior goods to us because they know we want to read the books anyway. Please watch out and if possible, complain to the company. If enough of us do, they will return to the quality we have come to expect. Just take a look at the first hardcovers released in the late 90's. Look at the differences between those and this book. There is no comparison.

I have fallen in Love with MZB a while ago and have enjoyed reading her books

I now have the whole darkover series by her and will never give these books away! Personally I think they are the best sci fi books out there! You can read one and still know whats going on or you can read them all and get a sense of the whole Darkover World and how it all plays out!

I have not felt so close to characters in a long time and feel I am right there with them as I read about their adventures, troubles, pains, and loves!

Now all I have to do is buy the anthologies to give me more stories and insights on the characters and about the whole world of Darkover!

Her Avalon Series is one of the best too! She has added more truth than fiction to these stories so you feel that you are a part of the past as you read them

I am glad that Deborah Ross is continuing to write in the world of Darkover, and I think that overall she is doing a fine job. I am excited to see that she is going to release a new trilogy continuing the story of "modern" Darkover, which should tie up the many loose ends from "Traitor's Sun" (the last Darkover novel Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote before her death). If you are a fan of Darkover/MZB, "A Flame in Hali" is a must-read, and a solid effort from Ross. However, it is certainly not the place to begin the series, and does not rank among the best Darkover tales.
This novel mostly suffers from an unlikeable protagonist, Eduin Deslucido. Yes, we pity him because of the compulsion to kill that his father placed upon him. However, he is a self-serving character who goes through life manipulating others as he chooses, completely violating the moral code of Darkover. It is impossible to like him or want him to succeed in his goal of killing King Carolin and Varzil Ridenow, who we grew to love in the second volume of this trilogy. Unfortunately, they only have cameo roles in this book.
More interesting than Eduin is the heroine of the book, Dyannis, Varzil's sister. While she has a tendency to blame herself for everything, she at least has a strong personality and strong values, and we are rooting for her the whole time. Varzil is a wonderful character whenever we see him.
The story progressed slowly, but it never quite dragged. Not as good as the first two books of the trilogy, or Marion Zimmer Bradley's last Darkovers novels, but "A Flame in Hali" was an entertaining read, and the ending was heartbreaking.

It definitely suffers from mzb being gone, but the characters are good, and the ending is wonderful, and very unexpected. Not in the first rank of darkover books, but will get you interested enough to read the rest

I really enjoyed "Lunatics." I don't care much for love stories, but this is more a story about the people who love the lovers, and how everyone we know is affected by the choices we make.

I'm only 16 years old but i picked up this book in the library, just to have something to read. I brought i over to a friend's house and read it and it was an amazing story. Every character fit in with the personality of every close friend i had. To tell the truth, the book got really creepy because it was so accurate with the characters. This is one of the few books that i could'nt put down, literally. And surprisingly enough it was a romance novel but still humorous and very very clever witha touch of fantasy in it. Very good novel.

I thought of the movie The Big Chill while I read this. I also thought of the small number of writers who write fantasy from their private slice of reality. Denton's writing is a wonder, and unlike the moon with its habit of coming and going, my interest in Lunatics never waned. Every character was unique and worth knowing. I've given this book as a gift many times. Smart, endearing writing.

Someone mentions in another review that this book is unlike Blackburn (another great book.) Which it is. Thus the wonder of Bradley Denton. I'm looking forward to his next book.

_____________________________________________

Each month, when the moon is full, Jack strips naked and waits
outside for Lily. If he doesn't, she has trouble finding him on her flight
down from the Moon. The Austin police are not pleased. . . but , as
one of his friends observes, Jack's a few bubbles off level. His friends,
thirty-something engineers and academics, are pretty kinky too.
There's Halle, a software engineer, "as straightforward a woman as I've
ever been shat on by," says a former boyfriend. Halle keeps a chart of
who's slept with whom - blue lines are long-term relationships, red
lines are "short affairs, brief mistakes, and one-night stands." Even
numbers are women,

"....and men, of course, are odd." . . . Carolyn
pointed to number 100, which had so many red and blue lines
converging on it that it was surrounded by a solid purple ring. "My
God," she said, "who's the slut?"

Halle made a throat-clearing noise. "Actually," she said, "that's me."

* * *

This month, Lilith the Moon Goddess has gotten confused by the
Austin city lights, and makes a hard landing on Guadalupe St --

Halle ran into the street after her and was nearly run over by a silver
Lexus whose driver leaned out his window and called her a stupid
c*nt. She ignored him and ran on to where Lily sat on the
steps, looking dazed . . . "Why did he say c*nt as if it were a bad
thing?" she asked. She sounded shaken.

"Because he meant it as a bad thing," Halle said . . . "We should get
out of here. I'll help you up."

But Lily was still looking at the Lexus. She scowled, and it gave Halle a
chill. "Nobody should say c*nt as if it were a bad thing," Lily said.

She wiggled her finger at the Lexus as the light turned green, and when
the car began to accelerate, both of its rear tires exploded. The Lexus
groaned to a halt in the middle of Eighth Street, and then the front tires
exploded as well.

Halle stared as a flatbed truck came roaring along Eighth Street. ran the
red light, and hit the right rear fender of the Lexus . . . The driver of
the Lexus emerged just as one of Lily's loose feathers wafted onto the
windshield. When the feather touched the glass, the car's alarm began
whooping. The driver stood there gaping at his wrecked automobile
as if it were a beached whale.

"I've given him scrotum boils, too," Lily said.

* * *
I had occasional suspension-of-disbelief problems - Jack, in particular,
gets a little too loopy at times, and Lily can get pretty weird - but I'm not
a regular fantasy reader, and this is a minor quibble. The ending?
Well, see what you think . . . "soon to be a major motion picture"?

This is Denton's fourth novel; I've previously read, and enjoyed,
"Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede" (a Campbell award-
winner) - similarly quirky, similar amusing Tejano background,
similar problems. I expect urban-fantasy fans would like both books a lot.

Serious Denton fans will want to check out his interview in the Jan 97
Locus - where you'll learn (surprise!) that he is a thirty-something who
lives in Austin, plays in a rock 'n roll band, & hangs with science-
eng'g-academic folks. His BA is in astronomy & English. When he
mentioned this to his wife-to-be, she said, "Oh. What are you going to
do with that - write science fiction?" "YES."

Actually, I'd like to see Denton combine his technical background and
his wonderfully quirky characters in a REAL sf book . .

[...]

This is a wacky book. I'm not even sure how to classify it really - fantasy/contemporary/comedy. In a nutshell it's about a guy, Jack, who is in love with a moon goddess. His friends, neighbors, and local cops all think he's a loon because he spends one night a month outside, naked as can be, awaiting his lover from the moon (it's the only way she's able to find him).

In an attempt to save him from a permanent stint in jail his friends spend each full moon with him in a cabin located way out in the boonies. It's not long before his friends begin to become affected by the presence of Jack's moon goddess and they begin to have relationship troubles. The book started out funny and the premise was wild but eventually the story turned dull as more and more time was spent on Jack's self-centered, annoying friends who were lusting after each others' wives/boyfriends/etc. etc. I really liked Jack and his moon goddess Lily - they were the only compassionate characters in the bunch - but his friends hogged up most of the book

****
I enjoyed this book and read it all in one sitting. I have felt so alone loving someone who is bipolar and this book was the first one to put into words many aspects of how this felt. If you have someone close to you with this illness, it can help you to deal with your own emotions and be understanding, yet still practice self-care.

Basically, it is one woman's unique story of her relationship with her bipolar husband. However, there are not a lot of unnecessary details or "story", just anecdotes that are practical to help you see how one woman copes and survives. I found this immensely helpful personally.

It is a short book (less than 150 pages) and worth the price.
****

She is a nutcase married to a nutcase. She is a co dependant door mat making her life revolve around her husband. I am married to a bipolar person but I will not be verbally abused nor will I walk and egg shells my whole life. Marriage is a compromise between two people and her husband holds the upper hand in that marriage. I realize that bi-polar people are sick HOWEVER that does not mean that the spouse, friend or relative has to subject themselves to inappropriate behavior and insults.

If you subsitute BiPolar for Abusive in the title would you still hold her opinions as gospel? I hope the answer is no. All she tells you about is how to pray and how to tip toe around your own house so that not to upset the bipolar in your life.

The book has few redeemable qualities, she explains bipolar as it relates to her husband (however, she thinks she is an experet on Manic/Depression because she is married to one! I married a rocket scientist does that make me one too?)

I don't know what books the other reviewers read but in my opinion save your money.

I found this book to be helpful. Not so much in that it offered any new information, but it did put into words some of the feelings that go along with loving someone with bipolar. That whole am I crazy for staying feeling. I would recommend this book to others more as a validation of your own thoughts and feelings, not so much on tips or suggestions. Again like most books on manic depression it focuses too much on the depression side. While this is helpful there needs to be more written on how to handle and deal with the manic fazes. Overall a good read though.

This is an excellent book! It for anybody who has anybody with BiPolar in your life. I myself have the disorder, but the fact is what the people we love go through. It explains alot, and gives help to try in reclaiming yourown inner peace. I know, I have been called a whirlwind myself. We say things we don't mean or even remember and I myself will never know what this actually has done to others. This book is just that for the " others " and was very information and enjoyable reading. I highly recommend this book.

This book starts out with Mrs. Bradley tricking her husband into going into the hospital. Fortunately for her, it worked. He was willing to seek treatment. How he reacted to being tricked wasn't mentioned.
How their children dealt with his illness was skimmed over in one sentence. I'm sure they would have a completely different story, having watched their father verbally attack their mother over the years. I didn't get the feeling that Mrs. Bradley was being honest in that regard.
She did give some helpful tips on how to cope with your own anxiety and/or depression when dealing with these people. There was plenty of humor and irony to go along with the sadness and frustration. That helped me a great deal.
My situation is different in that my mother-in-law is the bi-polar (undiagnosed and untreated). This book outlined her personality almost to a T. It also helped me to understand my father-in-law and why he won't leave her despite her destructive behavior.
This book is a good starting point regardless of the relationship you have with the bi-polar. I would, however, look at other books and resources on this subject to better educate yourself.

good book for html db beginner developers. many GUI and detail instructions you can follow to develop your own application. very easy to read and play on your own.

This is a great book, I know this becuase I've read it. I've also passed it along to other developers within my group, three, to be exact and they like it as well. I'm finding it to be much more useful then the online documentation.
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I would recommed this book to anyone who wants a great resource for Oracle HTMLDB.

The authors state that this book is for beginning and intermediate htmldb developers but my opinion is that it is a confused conglomerate of descriptions of very obvious details through to details that only an advanced user would consider.

For example, there is a long description of the SQL Workshop. In my opinion, anyone who knows enough about constraints, triggers, defaults, nulls (:)) to make sensible use of this facility will be able to work out the workshop without much trouble.

In one place the authors point to useful information on the web, mainly the oracle "htmldb" home page, saying that there is no need to repeat the details in the book. On the other hand, the appendices (and other places) contain details which are readily available in manuals. I would have documented the former and referred readers to the latter.

Steps are listed in detail to perform many, often basic, functions. "and follow the prompts" would have been more than sufficient in many/most places and would have allowed the authors more space to actually get around to providing useful information. On the subject of useful information, in my opinion the manuals describe what can be done but useful information is what should be done. I purchased the book expecting the latter, that the authors would elaborate on lessons learned from experience (how-to information) so that readers would not have to go through the same pain to get workable applications most easily. But not so. The Tips and Techniques & Best Practices chapters are only 20 pages total; and are categorized as Advanced Topics. Neither is there any indication of things that logically htmldb could do for you but doesn't - such as (not) setting the max length of fields and incorporating column comments.

Want to know about checkboxes? Radio buttons? Well, don't expect to find index entries for these. Not what I would expect from a handbook.

There is detail on replacing XL and MSAccess with htmldb. Maybe this should have been left to a book on XE. In any case, I would assume that the push for this comes from the IT crowd, or some enlightened end user/developer, in order to get data under some corporate control. It is surprising therefore that there is no mention of data backups. Excel and access files are more than likely on network drives and so would be backed up periodically. Bundling multiple htmldb workspaces together might provide different challenges with respect to backup and recovery regimes.

I was not enlightened by the chapters in the Website and Application Examples section. Certainly not why I bought the book. Besides, harking back to the beginner and intermediate target audience, these examples are too complex in design. Furthermore, I half expected the source to be available so that the code could at least be examined in order to see how the design details were actually implemented. Perhaps this is more marketing than substance; though not as direct marketing as in the section on PL/SQL Error Handling.

OK, maybe I should admit that my negativity may have something to do with the fact that I am a DBA and have been using htmldb for almost a month. And that I expected the book to tell me what I now know about how to approach htmldb developments and to fill in the gaps where I am still grasping for elegant/generic solutions. It doesn't do either.

There are some good sections in the book. The sections on templates for example; though changing templates requires a reasonable knowledge of html and css (and javascript) and so is probably more an advanced topic.

If you haven't started with htmldb, application express that is, then find a simple application and some time; install XE; create a schema owner; design the schema and include surrogate PKs populated by triggers as well as defaults, FKs etc; build the tables; create views for the LOVs you need and then create the LOVs; set PICK_DATE_FORMAT_MASK; setup UI Defaults; build an application using 1 level tabs and using "form on table with report" for all tables; well, you might want tabular forms for tables that resolve M-M relationships; read the Issue Tracking tutorial from the oracle website and try out on your new website anything that you find that looks appropriate, useful or interesting; research and fix anything else that needs fixing and add anything that needs adding; get some constructive feedback; determine what the design should have been; re-jig or re-start.

I bought Oracle HTML DB Handbook, because I needed to write an application in HTML DB and I didn't know the language. With this book and google I was able to create an application with forms, tables, collections, email with links, and the ability to upload and download files.

I asked the authors a question about one of the procedures and I received a response in less than 24 hours.

The book is well worth the money.

To compare APEX (formerly HTMLDB) to .NET is like comparing a ready-made-sandwich to a gourmet meal. One (APEX) is a web-page generator with extensions, the other (.NET) is a bona-fide development environment. To suggest otherwise is at best disingenuous. That said, HTMLDB has a niche. This is the first book available and it is essentially a rehash of the online documentation. It says a lot when the author posts his own review and gives it 5 stars... next..

Out of Avalon was good but it gave the taste of something that could have been better. The tales that are featured in this book were interesting but some were down right boring. I had fallen asleep on The Castellan and thought Me and Gallahad could have been written by a fanfiction amateur. I was impressed however with the stories Avalonia and Finding the Grail, especially loved the line that stated men go out for treasures both rare and magickal but women are the ones that find it. Overall it is a reccomended read but still could have been done better.

This is a collection of short stories centered around Avalon and King Arthur written in tribute to Marion Zimmer Bradley (author of the infamous "avalon" novels). These short stories are very enjoyable and fun to read. One of my favourites was the one written by Bradley herself which centred around Morgaine teaching (or trying to) this young, wild girl, the ways of Avalon. She runs off and finds this stone which tests the courage and will of everything Morgain ever knew. And I loved the one about Morgaine's cousin (!) who is sent from her court in disgrace to live with her because she nearly killed her brother. She is attacked by a wolf (her and her party) and is the only survivor and meets as well as falls in love with a psycho named Myriddin (who I think is Merlin, but with maybe the welsh spelling?) He reminds me of how Merlin was portrayed in the movie Excalibur, this crazy eccentric psycho wizard. Escapt in this story his magic is really shapeshifting abilitues. And we watch as this girl tries to learn his ways. And on and on and on. All these stories are way fun to read. If you like this subject, get this. It's fun.

The Heart of the Hill- Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana L. Paxson
The Fourth Concealment of the Island of Britain- Katharine Kerr
Prince of Exiles- Rosemary Edghill
The Secret Leaves- Tricia Sullivan
The Castellan- Diana Gabaldon and Samuel Watkins
Lady of the Lake- Michelle Sagara West
The Mooncalfe- David Farland
Avalonia- Kristen Britain
Finding the Grail- Judith Tarr
Me and Galahad- Mike Resnick and Adrienne Gormley
A Lesser Working- Jennifer Roberson
Grievous Wounds- Laura Resnick
Black Dogs- Lorelei Shannon
Marwysgafn (Deathbed Song)- Eric Van Lustbader
The Mouse's Soul- Nina Kiriki Hoffman

I adore the Avalon series, but this book, quite frankly, sucked. While it was not anywhere near as horrible as "Ancestors of Avalon", it was still bad. I wish people would learn that Bradley cannot be imitated. If you wish to write about Arthurian legend, be my guest. Stop trying to mimic Bradley though!

If you want to read this novel, get it from your library. Don't waste your money on it.

As a pre-service teacher, I am eager to share this anthology with any teacher who would like a less than bible-thick introduction to Arthurian literature for their teenage students. Short stories, that not only simmer with the breath of Avalon and mystery of legends, it is also a painless introduction to great fantasy writers like Marion Zimmer Bradley. I am promoting it for use in SSR (sustained silent reading) in class-rooms and as a fine teaching resource to launch into bigger things like Morte de'Arthur. It's focus on the little people (the extras) suggests the very essence of fables and myths - the fluidity and re-telling of a story to legendary status. While I wouldn't say every story appealed to me - I would say that this must testify to the fact that it includes a tale bewitching enough for a wider audience than I anticipated. Try it! on yerself and on yer teenagers. It's a great platform for engaging in olde worlde literature and classics - creative, sweet and sometimes shocking....loved it...won't sell it..pass it on

The first two books in this three book compilation are really great and memorable works. They are an important part of the Darkover saga, and provide some interesting insights both to the Renunciates (Free Amazons), a separatist female group, and to the history of Terran/Darkover relations. However, I thought the last book in this trilogy absolutely lost any basis in reality. The motivations of the characters made absolutely no sense. The two main characters of the books are propelled on a quest that seems utterly pointless and ridiculous from the setup until the very end. Just stop reading after the second book and you'll be much happier.

This Saga of the Renunciates, makes only any sense if read all togheter. Dismiss all those comments that say you can enter Darkover at any novel.
And this books are a proof of that. "Shattered" is a short novel, almost nothing realy important happens, is just an introduction for the characters. "Thendara" is long book about the lead roles, Lorne and Jael, and as all this saga, this is a story about two particular beings, and has no impact on big planetary scale, or in Darkover history. Altough very long, I found the books very adult oriented, and heartbroken, wich made me feel the troubles and sorrows of this two girls. I was amaze how Bradley managed to pull me inn with her view of the woman`s world. "Sorcery" on the other hand is an adventure driven story, and is very entertaining. (spoilers head) But the end is somehow dissapointing, more even so, considering that is the end of all the saga. It took some time to read them all, (one after the other, I might add) and I felt exausted at end, but somehow altough this is not best on Darkover, I end up missing those the girls.

As a Psychologist I found this trilogy about women claiming their own power and moving away from societal mores and predictive expectations an excellent study in self empowerment. The story is written in the context of a futuristic science fiction world and addresses the many issues that contemporary society presents as we know them today. Although I am not a gay female, I am sensitive to the issues that present to women who are, and the countless challenges they face on every level of their being. Intellectual, emotional, societal, spiritual and beyond, and not the least is the physical strength that they must also develop and hone to defend themselves when bullied by men or while dealing with work that demands strength akin to the male whose strength is clearly superior due to body mass and musculature.

These stories progress from the starting point of Jaelle who is a child being rescued by Renunciates from the horror of being forced to live in chains, literally, a cultural expectation on that part of Darkover, as she approaches womanhood in Dry Town. This desert area represents a male dominated society lead by her father a cruel, punishing tyrant, and her mother, a highly educated and talented psychic, which is called "laran" in these stories. Jaelle's mother was captured and abducted by a bandit and forced to live in absolute captivity with this sadistic, depraved, misogynistic, bestial man. Jaelle's mother dies in childbirth during the escape orchestrated by her cousin who had hired the Renunciates, and she is left as a 12 year old orphan full of fear, distrust and grave conflicts.

Thendara House is part two which introduces Magda Lorne, a Terran whose parents were off-worlders who settled on the planet Cottman 4 called Darkover by it's inhabitants. Magda's self exploratory story is about a woman who is evaluating herself and finding no "true home" on either her birth planet Darkover, or in the world of the Terrans where she was trained and functions as an intelligence agent. Her conflict is due to the Darkovan rigid societal expectations of feminine behavior which is to serve their husbands without any real voice in decision making at all. She is deeply conflicted and frustrated. During the course of her story she interfaces with a traveling band of Free Amazons or "Renunciates" who capture her, albeit due to her own error, and in order for her to not betray them they force her to take the Oath of Renunciates. Jaelle, now an adult becomes her Oath Mother and helps Magda on her solo journey to rescue her former husband also a Terran Intelligence agent named Peter Haldane, who has been captured by a hill bandit and mistakenly confused as one of the sons of a neary ruling lord who looks like him due to the red hair genetic characteristic of Comyn blood of the seven ruling domain lords. Haldane is facing death unless ransom is paid. Magda and Jaelle successfully rescue Haldane and later Magda must honor her Oath and come to live in the Thendara Renunciate House for 6 months in order to learn, be trained and to find herself. In the process she recognizes that she is a "lover of women" in a relationship with Camilla, an emascua mercenary, and she is forced to reevaluate her life in the context of being torn between two worlds Terran and Darkovan, gay and straight, and, additionally, she finds herself gifted with "laran" that confuses her further.

Part Three is a terrifying and riveting story of the search and rescue of a Terran woman Lt. Alexis Anders of Mapping and Exploring who is in direct competition with the Terranan "Lorne Legend". Through sheer bad luck Anders and her guide Rafaella get involved with a sisterhood of evil sorceresses in the frozen mountains past Nevarsin. Magda and Jaelle are freemates now, and had left the Renunciate House to study at the Forbidden Tower for seven years in order to fully develop the psychic skill "laran" they possess. Each woman has had a child who is being fostered by others in the Forbidden Tower while the freemates continue to pursue their respective careers. Jaelle is restless and wants to get back on the road with her former business partner Rafaella. Terranan Magda is asked by Jaelle to become involved in the rescue attempt that Rafaella mistakenly took due to her greed for Terran gold offered by Lt. Alexa Anders who is setting out to find this alleged "hidden city" she believes that she saw during one of her M & Ex excursions. Her self serving goal is to "one-up" Magda and surpass the "Lorne Legend" as she creates her own "Legend" should she discover this unmapped city. Camilla, and two other women join Jaelle and Magda on a treacherous journey through unbelievable challenges.

Overall, The Saga of the Renunciates is a fantastic trilogy of well thought out stories and I really enjoyed them. In the process, I found myself able to add greater depth to my understanding of women in the totality of their experiences. Although this is presented in the context of a fictional world it reflects the Universality of the feminine journey through various attitudes and behaviors experienced in this world which we identify as real life. Excellent.

I've read most of the Darkover series during the last five yrs. I started off with MZBs Avalon books & ended up hooked on the Darkover series.
In many the Darkover books the renunciates (free amazons) are mentioned, but usually not in much detail. It was wonderful to stumble upon a whole trilogy of books about them. They explain
how & why the group started, and how they worked out a way to marginally fit into the society by being of service to both Darkovans & Terrans. I thoroughly enjoyed this series & would highly recommend it to any MZB fan.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book - I loved Mists of Avalon, but wasn't fond of the other Avalon books. I wanted to like Darkover, but the two other Darkover novels I read (Stormqueen and Hawkmistress) didn't appeal to me much.

And then I began The Shattered Chain.

It started off exactly as I'd feared it would - a band of Amazons (just...read the other reviews for technical details) walk into a town and are laughed and jeered at by the men and treated with greater hostility by the women. I thought at this point that the book would be full of "Woman Power" and show how strong these Independent Women had to be to exist on a world like Darkover.

But the novel quickly became something more than that. I felt that it greatly picked up when we were introduced to Magda, the Terran - because for the Terrans, men and women are pretty much equal. And this viewpoint GREATLY helped balance out the supressing Darkover views, and made them not just bearable, but interesting. The resulting main plotline between the Terrans and Darkover people, with the Amazons building the bridge between the two worlds...it was pretty awesome. And of course there's all the subplots, and the huge personal developments taking place within the two main characters: the Terran woman and the Amazon one.

This book has some good action scenes, but the major focus is definitely on the characters themselves, and their relationships to one another and the world. Normally I would stay away from something like that, but the Terran/Darkover worlds created here are so interesting that it's pretty much impossible to not be caught up in it.

It had great, memorable characters, a great plot, and scenes you'll remember for a long, long time. I'd say it's definitely worth a read for anybody who likes fantasy/sci-fi...and books in general.

This book is written in laymens terms and easily understandable. If your pupose is to have a few ideas about how to handle sudden wealth I reccommend this book, but the buck should not stop here, do your research and gather further information rather than use friends and family. You have to know you and how you handle money. Investing for Dummies might be another great resource if your looking to quickly grasp ideas which you can apply to real world life and finances. One of the key features is learing how to manage your emotions, which I think is perhaps the most important tool. For further reccomendations one should probably see a psychologist or psychiatrist with expertise. The ideas here are not groundbreaking but insightful.

Found the book to be extremely useful and informative. Would highly recommend it for anyone finding themselves the recipient of a windfall of cash.

Sudden Money is very helpful and easy to read. Everyone should read this book!

I am a fee-only Certified Financial Planner that has heard Susan Bradley and read her book. Susan's book provides a good introductory overview of the issue that seems to be quite useful for those receiving smaller inheritances (<$3-4 million). So many people receive inheritances of $500K to $1 million and think they are rich. Susan's book helps them put things in perspective. Unfortunately many come to me after they have the money and have already started making the mistakes she discusses.

She does not have an axe to grind nor pushes any particular method of settlement--as each situation determines the method.

I like her approach of (1) don't do anything initially- Decision Free Zone(2) understand the emotions--a huge item(3) get some professional advice (3) lay out a plan (4)move deliberately. Consequently, I recommend or give a copy of her book to those getting or have just gotten an inheritance or a large sudden influx of money.

Great book from a nice person.

This book is nothing more than a piece of self-promotional fluff --a marketing tool for the author's seminars and speaking gigs.

It offers little of substance either in the way of managing your finances or handling the emotional reactions to a windfall. It has all the depth of a sound bite. My sense is that Bradley is the type of person who believes her own PR.

If the author does as poor a job managing her clients' money as she did in writing this book, I suspect they'll experience 'sudden poverty'.

I bought and read this book because I agree with the author's premise. I wanted to have some fresh or new ideas on how to substantially urge my friends who have children in public school to bring them out. I am a homeschool mom and wouldn't even send my children to Christian school if I had a choice because I don't think even they do a good enough job with teaching apologetics and the things that are extremely important to our family. Uplifting speech, brotherly love, etc.

While the author did have many good points, I kept waiting for a substantial body of work that would back up his premise with Scripture and convincing argument. It seemed to me that the book was just "touch and go" of diatribe and railing against the ps system and parents who would choose the system. Especially disrespectful is the chapter on Evangelicals who are to blame for most of the ps children in the system. He thinks that the Evangelicals don't stand enough on "the shoulders of the giants" that came before and don't hold to creeds, confessions or catechisms that somehow lead to home schooling.? I'm sorry, I stand on the shoulders of Jesus Christ and His Word and I don't need Luther or Calvin to tell me what to think.

I have been looking for a way to convince, with LOVE because with love and the Holy Spirit's guidance believers will listen. Would someone convince you to stop watching television by saying, "Hey, you're a lazy bum and watch too much tv so turn it off and read what the Bible says about sloth!"? I LOVE my friends and their children who are in public school and want to open a dialogue about how wonderful and vital homeschool is to children. But this book did not help me one bit to advance my cause.

It's about time that the dominionists put their views out there for real Americans to see. Maybe then, they'll realize that you cannot have a free and democratic society for all under religious rule. Heath's ultimate goal is a permanent underclass who cannot afford his state-funded religious schools. Ultimately, only Christians will be educated and have rights in these systems. Don't be fooled...you cannot freely practice your faith while forcing it on anyone else, much less preventing them from practicing or abstaining without intimidation. Brad Heath is a sick and hateful man. Take it from someone in his community. He has no respect for anyone who does not think exactly as he does.

Heath's overall message comes across clearly: education is enculturation, and public schools have done an effective job systematically teaching our kids to marginalize their faith and subordinate God to false idols. Like Nancy Pearcey or Harry Blamires, Heath sound the call for Christians to take seriously the role of the Christian mind as we train up our children to think and act in accord with Christian presuppositions.

All schools, says Heath, are in the disciple-making business; education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a way of life. He gives answers to those typical rebuttals Christians provide regarding the appropriateness of public schools (e.g. salt and light, neutral education, etc.). Some Christians support the use of public schools by citing Daniel and Joseph, who were deeply involved in pagan institutions and used mightily by God. Says Heath, "We should never willingly sell our children into Egyptian slavery or purposefully exile them into Babylonian captivity. It is one thing to be forced into a pagan culture and atheistic education; it is quite another to embrace it through convenience, apathy, or neglect." Indeed, much of the problem is the anti-intellectual bent of many Christians; we'll talk about the Oprah topic of the day, but delving into the merits of ideas under the auspices of the Christian worldview is often a stretch.

Heath's emphasis on discipleship and enculturation hits hard. Despite many faithful Christians working in the public school system, government schools cannot teach Christ's Lordship in all of life. Schools do not simply teach subjects, provide knowldege, or prepare students for college. More importantly, they train students to be wise, virtuous, and honorable as they seek to love God in all they think and do. If and when Christian parents recognize this, enrolling their children in the public schools becomes an untenable option.

This little book offers a big, big challenge: to evaluate our understanding of this portion of the greatest commandment - not only loving Him with all of our heart and soul, but with our mind as well (as we are commanded!) - & to apply it to our reading, our education &, most importantly, to the education of our children. Is that happening? Read on!

This book makes you think about what we should be thinking about, and not wishing for. The problems in the government schools have been ignored by Christians for far to long. This is not a book that targets people, but the system. I can't be reformed, because it was set up to get rid of Christianity in our society. Christian beliefs go directly against an "open anything goes" society.

Bureaucracies don't survive thinking societies, and the Elite don't like sharing power. Individuals are a threat to that kind of power. Weaken the family and their beliefs, and you can be in complete control. Turn families against each other, and you don't have solidarity among the masses.

This book is a must read for anyone sitting on the fence while thinking about homeschooling.