Brandon Books

Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (12/06)

I really did not want to read "Valentine" by Chet Raymo. I do not like any story that is historical. The cover of "Valentine" turned me off even more. It reeked of history.

I was quite surprised that as I delved into the story, I could not put it down. The love story really did not unfold until the end. Until then, Chet Raymo blended history into this intriguing novel, and he made it exciting.

He showed how the early Christians were considered to be superstitious, and traitorous. He created characters that had to suffer for their religious beliefs. As an American, I have always taken the right of religious freedom for granted. I now realize how fortunate we are.

Chet Raymo reminded me of the advances we have in medicine. Valentine, a physician, was considered to be strange, because he actually studied medicine. On the other hand, there were many other healers who simply were ignorant of physiology and pharmacy or were simply quacks.

Perhaps the most unsettling tradition was that of the death matches in the amphitheatre. Crowds would gather to see a person fight another person or animal until one dies. The crowd enjoyed seeing it! "Aptus, too, will thrill when his sword slips under the Egyptian's helmet and the blood gushes downward like water spilled from a bowl."

The fighting and death are seen as sexual. "The managers of the games know what they are doing when they recruit the best looking female slaves for these diversions. Every cock in the amphitheatre was stiff when she went down."

The love story is between Valentine and Julia. Valentine assisted in Julia's birth. He ended up falling in love with her. When Valentine held Julia after her birth, he "was astonished at its miniature perfection." He describes his desire for her as a woman. "I see Julia's slender body--her breast, her belly, the cottony swelling of her sex." If you stop to think of that with today's standards, that is a little twisted. Just look past that. Julia supports Valentine through imprisonment and escape.

Julia is punished for her belief in Christianity by having to fight a pack of wolves in the amphitheatre. Her father debates on whether or not to see his only child, who is blind, suffer a horrendous death. He wants to go. He thinks maybe his presence will provoke pity, leading to her release. What if it does not? He will see his daughter torn from limb to limb, chewed on and digested by beasts.

"Valentine" is a page-turner. Just when I thought the story had come to a finish, another turn was taken. For a thrilling historical adventure, "Valentine" is a great choice.

For lovers of history and romance, this accurate portrayal of the Roman Empire with all its glory and debauchery, is revealed through intimate details of a few men and one very special woman.

The story begins when Valentine, a teenager and slave, is assisting his master, Dr. Theophrastus, with the difficult birth of a child. Valentine is awestruck and fascinated by the drama, yet unaware of how his life will be changed for eternity by this tiny newborn girl, Julia--born without sight.

The event compels him to study medicine and he becomes a compassionate and caring doctor, and eventually the personal physician to Quintus--the procurator of the games. Valentine struggles between the pagan lifestyle of the Romans and the moral teachings of ancient philosophers. He does not, however; chose to follow the teachings of one "philosopher," Jesus Christ--the radical from Galilee who claimed he could raise people from the dead and give them eternal life. Preposterous, thought Valentine.

Displeasing his employer whose son Valentine could not heal, he finds himself in jail on false charges of being a Christian--a death sentence. This is where the love story begins.

Julia and Valentine have met only once before (excluding her birth), but neither can forget their meeting. Secret visits from Julia in jail are Valentine's only comfort. Julia, now a devoted Christian, is determined to change Valentine's heart before he meets his fate.

A wonderful story that is very moving.

Armchair Interview says: Excellent read.

This is a fascinating historical novel about the role played by African Americans in the Battle of Mobile Bay, and in the US navy generally. Mr Jones tells a story that is gripping and passionate and full of humanity. Highly recommended.

A look at the map will tell you (if you need to know) that the Mississippi and the Hudson never merge, so the title is a puzzle - until its very last line, which turns out to sum up the book in a rather special way. It author, Brandon Astor Jones, has a real and unusual talent for description. He makes much use of the present tense for immediacy. The dialogue is lively and natural. It is light, readable, even when the subject-matter should be heavy. (The book would make a great film, and would translate well into a script, as I believe the author has conceived it much as a film-maker would, though it is well-written by prose standards as well.)

As for plot....well, it's got everything. Social comment (it starts out with a graphic and realistic portrayal of slaves' lives in the Deep South at the time of the American Civil War); historical accuracy (he's done his homework, and I suspect there are also real-life family recollections in here as well); perhaps more surprisingly in someone who has spent most of his life in prison (on death row), naval accuracy (the sea-battles - especially the key one of the Battle of Mobile Bay - are rivetingly accurate and exciting).

Yet it is far from being a mere sociological or military history. The characters, from the least of the slaves, come alive on the page. The story has heroes and heroines (mostly but not only Afro-Americans); villains (mostly but not only white!) romance (there are three love stories, all compelling and finally heart-warming); quite a bit of sex, some of it lurid (hard to avoid in the circumstances of exploitation at the time - the least lurid are accounts of things in the New Orleans brothel where the escaped slaves find refuge.)

For the reader who likes blood and guts, the early scene where Ben, a slave who has thrice escaped, is "bobbed" (that is, has half his foot chopped off - without anaesthetic) is spine-chilling, while in horror even this is surpassed when it is discovered the slave-manager has preserved it pickled in his shed, along with various other body parts. That this man is murdered after he rapes and impregnates the beloved of one of the slaves, seems both fitting and just. It also leads to the flight of the slaves which triggers the main drama.

The author himself points out (in a thought-provoking and informative prologue) that the history of the American Civil War is mostly that of land battles. Yet the naval battles played an important part too, and it is not widely known that African-Americans were involved, and in the case of the novel's main hero Wilson Brown, distinguished in it. This is a man who deserves to be better known to history, a real life hero that would do honour to any community.

A highly interesting picture is provided of New York at the time, where the sailors go on leave, and where recently arrived Irish are seeking out negroes to murder them, seeing them as responsible for the war which is making Irish lives a misery. The description of how the outnumbered black men in a New York alley manage to outwit the would be lynchers, is a masterpiece of adventure writing. The author shows great skill in setting up the suspense of the black servicemen's hopeless situation, yet freeing them from it by a device that is almost comic in its lightness, yet utterly convincing.

From the thrill of the slaves' escape and the manhunt, to the wonderful touch of Wilson ending up running a mechanised sawmill on the Hudson, after having sawed wood for all those years as a Mississippi slave (which by the way neatly points the contrast between the industrialised, mechanised north and the under-industrialised south which is overreliant on slave labour)this is a well-paced and beautifully written adventure story which is also a true record of a proud moment in the struggle of Afro-Americans to be free, and their involvement on the Unionist side which crucially tipped the balance against the South in the final years of that conflict. A quite fascinating, exciting, and satisfying read.

The Guards starts out well enough, giving us a terse, almost stream-of-consciousness style look into the mind of former Garda Jack Taylor. Jack, much like so many other hard-boiled protagonists, has a problem with the bottle.

The problem with that bottle provides the main backbone of the book. Don't be fooled into thinking that this book is about a mystery, revenge, or anything even close to that; this book is about Jack Taylor moaning about drinking or about not drinking.

For a book written in such a quick, spaced-out style, the plot moves glacially. And when plot points are revealed, the payoff is practically nonexistent. Mysteries are figured out with no fanfare or suspense, and the reader is left figuring out why any of this is important. Taylor also goes off on tangents that meander way outside of the story...some of these tangents will last for ten pages, with none of them really moving anything forward. At best, the tangents just reinforce the fact that Taylor's a drunk and that he pretty much hates everyone.

Bruen's terse style also allows for very little character description...if any at all. I still have no idea what any of the main characters in the book should look like. I mean, I don't need a detailed description of every hair on their head, but a little nod in the direction of physical description would be nice.

The formatting is also problematic. Maybe Bruen was trying something with the formatting, but it just comes off like he's padded out the novel to the 288 page length. Bruen devotes entire chapters (which are titled erratically, some not titled at all) to a single thought or small exchange with another character. These things should have been one paragraph in the book, but Bruen lays them out to consume 2 1/2 physical pages with about 1/2 a page of content. The formatting does nothing for pacing, either, due to the fact that it's not consistent in showing the passage of time. Sometimes he'll just drop a chapter in, and it seems arbitrary.

Maybe if Bruen had laid this out properly, made it a nice 110 page novella (seriously, there are probably 150 pages of wasted space in this book), this would have been a better read, but the annoyance of needing to flip pages every three seconds just so Jack Taylor can ruminate about a Joy Division album in a standalone chapter really ruins the reading experience.

I gave the book 2 stars because it's mercifully short. You could finish it in a well-motivated afternoon. It has some nice bits and pieces, but it's certainly not worth buying for full price. The formatting makes it a rip-off. Get it from the library, or buy it used.

This is the first novel in the Jack Taylor series and is a most auspicious start.Taylor lives and works in Galway ,Irish Republic and was formerly a member of the Irish police ,the Garda Siochana .He was not a model employee and that is putting it mildly.A frequent subject of the force disciplinary procedure,an alcoholic and more than a tad Bolshie Taylor was eventually fired for punching an Irish Cabainet Minister caught speeding and then getting a little bit lippy when confronted by the law.Taylor is now-when the book opens-to all intents and purposes a Private Eye ,although since the Irish Republic does not recognise the profession he describes himself as a "finder" .He establishes a minor reputation and earns enough to get by and spens his time imbibing in the city's many hostelries .

He is engaged by Ann Henderson ,an attractive widow ,whose recently deceased daughter Sarah has killed herself.Ann wishes to know why ,and what lies behind the death.The case turns out to be linked to a prominent local businessman ,Planter,who is a golfing buddy and crony of the local head man of the Garda ,Superintendant Clancy a former colleague of Taylor on the force .When Taylor perisists in his investigation he is beaten up by off duty Garda for his troubles .He uncovers evidence of corruption within the Garda and is aided in his fight to get at the truth by the psychotic ex military man Sutton ,a man whose taste for violence is more a little excessive .

The mystery of Sarah's death and its unravelling is only the surface part of this very dark and brooding book .It is equally ,if not more so ,about Taylor's own spiritual and physical odysssey as he battles the demons of his childhood and seeks to rid himself of the burden of his drinking .It is tale of the londg dark night of the soul ,a journey to the other side of the night .Tayalor is death obsessed and haunted ,reading voraciously on the subject and also has taste for noir movies and American noir crime fiction .(The references to authors and their works makes this book a useful primer for people looking for writers in that genre ,new and more classical ).Taylor cannot sustain either love or sobriety for long and this makes him a tragic and bruised hero of the "down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean" variety ,He frequently haunts cemeteries ,and bars hanging out with the street people and winos who rather like Taylor himself must fight every day for what they have in the way of both dignity and money .
The book does not romanticise alcoholism and sees it for what it is -a disease and an illness that means booze ultimately ends up costing more than money as it devours his relationships with ann and the young English singer Catherine Bellingham .
Galway itself is a key figure in the drama -its quays,and back alleys and pubs .Most of all its characters -aplace where tramps can quote and write poetry and barbers converse about Joy Division .(Jack himself likes traditional country music -STOUT FELLOW!)
While not a comfortable read this is a taut and edgy book that lovers of the noirish type of crime writing will devour ,while cosy crime lovers are advised to give it a miss as they will not be happy with its profanity and violence

Overall I enjoyed reading this book, but Bruen's writing style is different and I found it sometimes difficult to follow. Because I was a captive audience and it's all I had to read at the time, I plowed through it and actually enjoyed it. To be fair, this is his first novel I read so maybe the second one will be easier.

Bruen doesn't reinvent the murder mystery - he just shifts it's phasing and phrasing. Reading this, you're always comfortable with the genre and shaken by the interpretation. If you love murder mysteries, detective novels, or Irish humor, you'll be at home with this book. A quick read, you find yourself slowing so as not to finish too soon. Can't wait to read the next one...slowly...savoring it like single malt or fine Irish.

I've read dozens of hardcore crime and detective novels over the years, but Ken Bruen's The Guards stands out as one of the most unusual of the lot. I recently became aware of Ken Bruen, who lives in Galway, Ireland, and set this novel there, when I read The Triumph of the Thriller earlier this month. Bruen was listed as one of the best crime writers working in Europe today and The Guards was mentioned as a particularly good place to start reading him.

Jack Taylor, the novel's narrator, is a former member of the Garda Siochana, Ireland's police force, who has attained somewhat of a local reputation for being good at "finding things." He is the closest thing to a private detective that a highly suspicious Irish society will trust to even a small degree. Unfortunately for Taylor, one of the things that he is best at finding is his next bottle of booze and he spends a substantial portion of his waking hours in a less than sober state. Taylor's reputation as a "finder" results in a young woman asking him to investigate the supposed suicide of her daughter and what he learns in the process will forever change his life.

On the surface, Jack Taylor is little different from many of genre's most popular detectives. He is an alcoholic fighting to stay sober in a world that every day confronts him with readily available booze, a man with a history of failed relationships, one handy with sarcasm and wit even when in danger.

But two things make The Guards different from the bulk of crime fiction being written today, the first being Bruen's writing style. The novel's prose is sparse, relying on short scene after short scene to move the plot along rather than on surrounding action scenes with the details of an intricate plot. Each scene is presented through the eyes of Jack Taylor and the reader's sense of what is happening is limited to only what Taylor sees or remembers from his own past. Bruen doesn't always hold himself to standard punctuation and is very fond of producing lists in place of simple sentences. For example,

"My clothes were

Washed

Ironed

Folded

at the end of the bed."

Too, many of the scenes are preceded by one of the author's favorite quotations from the works of other crime writers such as Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, Ed McBain and George P. Pelecanos.

The second thing that makes this novel so unusual is how unimportant the plot really turns out to be in the long run. This novel is more about character development and the relationships of the characters than it is about the investigation that Taylor undertakes on behalf of the grieving mother. And it works beautifully. Jack Taylor is an unforgettable character who takes his rightful place among the Spencers, Robicheauxs, Spades and Marlowes of the literary world.

Great conclusion to the original trilogy. This installment ties together most of the loose ends from the original trilogy and leads into the subsequent series books.

In 1981 NPR in the United States created the Star Wars radio drama, and several years followed and then Empire Strikes Back were also released.
To many, including me, it was a fantastic addition to the films, expanding knowledge and scenes. The acting was good, if sometimes patchy, but it was handled well.

Many years passed until Return of the Jedi (ROTJ from here on) was released. Now whereas the previous two films had been converted to radio in 13 and 10 episodes ROTJ was done in just 6. Once the titles are taken away this is about the same as the movie, so as can be see there is not much room to add things.

There are some added scenes, such as Luke creating his lightsabre, and Palpatine's dispatch of Vader to Endor, but these are minor additions at best.

Perhaps the greatest problem with the radio drama from my limited experience is describing action. So characters have to keep saying what they are doing, talking to themselves or another person. In the first two adaptions this was handled quite well, but in ROTJ it is frankly a mess. In the Rancor pit for instance Luke is discussing his situation with characters way above while locked in mortal combat. Other situations such as the sail barge battle made me laugh. This part is not handled well at all, and makes the listener lose focus.

The acting is also hit and miss. Joshua Fardon, as another reviewer mentioned, is not mature sounding enough to do Luke the Jedi Knight, sounding more like he's trying to follow Mark Hamil's lead.
The Emperor, played by Paul Hecht, has degenerated into a cackling maniac, and Perry King's Han Solo is still pretty much the same as always, take that how you will.

Overall, I think that ROTJ is a good investment for SW collectors, but it really adds nothing new to the story that wasn't there already, unlike the previous two adaptions.

Compared to NPR's expanded adaptations of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, their Return of the Jedi radio drama is anemic. Where the previous shows had more than 10 episodes, this one clocks in at a meager 6. At roughly 20 minutes per episode the length here is really no different than the movie's itself. Very little is added to the story, and what is added brings nothing special to the plot. Mark Hamill's replacement as Luke is dull and even wimpier. The biggest disappointment is how the climactic battle scenes between the Rebel and Imperial fleets and Luke, Darth Vader, and the Emperor are rushed, filling less than two full episodes.

Not a terrible deal for what I paid, but it could have been a much better conclusion to the first trilogy.

Yes, Luke, he was your father. That makes the whole sister thing just a little bit on the squicky side, doesn't it?

Anyway, we find out Han Solo is still cool, Darth Vader isn't stupid, the Emperor is ugly, and no Ewoks bleed when they die.

Throw in some space battles and some force cheese at the end.

Return of the Jedi is, of course, one of the foundation stories in the Star Wars saga. The film is a classic loved by millions of fans. How then does an author attempt to put the story into words after the fact? I do not envy anyone trying to write novelizations of the first three films. You have to stay with the facts of the film, but you want to expand the reader's understanding of the action and further develop the characters. Not an easy task by any means. Whatever you add to the story that was not in the film is going to upset somebody, no matter how well it fits in.

So, keeping that in mind, Mr. Kahn deserves a tremendous amount of credit for his efforts on the book. The bones of the story are the same. Han Solo is rescued from the clutches of the evil Jabba the Hutt. Luke returns to Dagobah to learn key information from the dying Yoda. The rebels attack the Death Star. Luke faces Vader and Palpatine on the Death Star and wins. The Rebel forces triumph with a lot of help from the Ewoks and everything ends happily. Clearly all these events are told well in the book, and it is great fun to relive them on the printed page.

My only problem with the book is that some of Mr. Kahn's writing goes too far. He is trying to get the reader to understand the thought processes of a few of the major characters, but I'm not sure he succeeds. One example - When Leia is following Wicket to the Ewok camp on the forest moon of Endor, she casts her mind adrift for a while. She then ponders the gargantuan trees, the smallness of the Ewoks, her smallness when compared to the trees, and her loneliness and confusion being a part of all that. "She felt like a tiny, creative spark, dancing about in the fires of life...dancing behind a furtive, pudgy, midget bear, who kept beckoning her deeper into the woods." I think some judicious editing could have improved sections of the book. Even so, the book is a must-read, just as the film is a must-see. Don't miss either one of them.

Thanks for the book, It looks great and it got here when I needed it.

I took a couple of courses in Chemistry 30 years ago back in high school and then a couple more in college. My son just finished using this book in HIS college Chemistry classes and I thought I'd read through it for grins. I wasn't very impressed. Oh, the information's all there. But, it's presented in the manner of someone having gone through a checklist to see all the Chemistry subjects that should be taught in general Chemistry and then just including them. It's hard to explain, but I think the problem is the lack of historical background in the book. The book has little historical snippets on Chemistry *personages*, but it doesn't follow along the historical *path of discovery* to explain WHY Chemistry is what it is. The end result is that the student is presented with dry, bare facts with no place to hang them in his head.

Another problem is the lack of math in the book. I mean, general Chemistry is not exactly a higher math subject (it's an empirical science, instead). But, as an example, on page 277, in the midst of the Quantum Mechanics section, there's a sidebar explaining:

"The <= sign means that the product (DELTA)x(DELTA)p can be greater than or equal to h/4(PI), but it can never be smaller than h/4(PI)"

(I've substituted the capitalized words for the greek symbols). 277 pages into a Chemistry book and the author is explaining what the "<=" sign is. This assumption of utter mathematical ignorance on the part of the reader continues throughout the book. And yet, a mere 72 pages further on (page 349), the author assumes knowledge of Coulomb's law in an explanation. Coulomb's law implies a class in Physics which means that anyone reading this book should be well versed in basic math.

And, finally, the biggest problem is that there's almost no lab material presented or used. I don't mean just a lack of lab experiments (I initially assumed there was some companion lab manual for this book -- but, if so, there's nothing anywhere in the book that references it). I mean that the author uses almost no hypothetical, lab-based scenarios to illustrate his points. Again, Chemistry is an historically empirical, experimental science. To entirely ignore that in a Chemistry book makes no sense at all.

Personally, this book feels like a book designed for people who have no interest in Chemistry but are forced to take a Chemistry class because of silly academic requirements. The problem with this is that presenting Chemistry as merely a collection of boring facts makes it even harder for such students to get anything out of the subject. And, for anyone who really is interested in the subject, this book could scare them off. Because of this, the best I can rate Chang's "Chemistry" is a Not Very Good 2 stars out of 5.

I thought my brain was broken because I tried several times to understand Chemistry. The problem was the other textbooks required by my professors. When I came across Chang's book, I thought it would be written like the rest of the boring chemistry texts written for people starting out in chemistry (but seemed like they were for people with a Ph.D. in chemistry). After I started to read Chang's book I was surprised, but I doubted myself. I assumed that I would get concepts mixed up or that I did not understand them at all. I was wrong because I passed every test in my Chemistry class. I am so happy to have found this book. I recommend this book to every college student that is somewhat familar with chemistry. This book helped me pass! Now, it would be great if he wrote organic chemistry and biochemistry books also.

This one of the nine books listed by the College Board as a high quality chemistry textbook for teaching AP Chemistry so it's a recognized quality text and has been a standard for years. It's not light reading. College level chemistry is a tough course and no book can make it easy without skipping important concepts. If you want an easy chem-lite, get Cliff's notes. It will get you by with a minimally passing grade, but if you want more than that, use a complete book like this one. Following the explanations in this textbook will get you through the toughest sections of chemistry with an clear and correct understanding. Examples of all the types of problems in first year college chemistry are given with step-by-step descriptions. The illustrations, graphs and example problems alone are enough to guide you through the toughest chemistry course. I've taught AP Chemistry and used a number of texts: Ebbing and Gammon, Zumdahl, Brown and LeMay and each one will reward a dedicated student. Chang ranks right up with them.

I used this book for 3 quarters of general chemistry. Its an ok book, as I use it quite alot for my organic chemistry lab work. My school bookstore ordered the paperback "custom" version of this book, which I think is retarded because most chemistry / chemical engineering students are going to want to keep their chemistry books for future class and or job reference. A paper back just isnt going to cut it, and I am going to have to repurchase this book as a hard back. That fact that I plan to repurchase this book as opposed to finding another is proof enough of its value. As a second choice, I think the Brown / Lemay chemistry book is just as good of a choice.

 Diamond Drought is the first book in the hip-hop soap opera, Diamond Series. This book is definitely hip-hop fiction. The excessive use of foul language and ghetto slang detract from the reading. This soap opera unfolds on the streets of New York, with the story centered on "Filthy" Rich and his illegal activities. Rich is heavily involved in the drug trade and directs the crime family that runs the avenue with no questions asked. Major, Afta, and Prime are the soldiers who protect Rich, manage the dealings on the avenue as well as operate the club, Diamonds, and the small music studio, Ghetto Sounds. Rich plans to quit the drug trade and turn music producer which will in turn propel his boy, Prime, into the limelight as a rap superstar.

The other players in the melodrama are females and commonly referred to as B%&*$'s. Rich's girl is Leaya, a chick down for whatever when it comes to her man. Leaya is an "around-the-way-girl" who uses Rich's money to floss on the avenue every day. Anna, Leaya's best friend, is a ghetto college student in love with designer labels and men who can fund her spending habits. Shantel, labeled the black Erica Kane, is a cutthroat high-class businesswoman determined to get exactly what she wants in business and in men. Monique is a refined sista who catches the train to read and drink coffee at Starbucks. The other players are Willie, the pimp extraordinaire; Germany, the white girl rapper; and Sparkles, the stripper.

The drama is about sex, drugs and rap music. The story intensifies when gunshots are fired at the club. Who is behind the shots? Which person is supposed to die? What role does Willie play and why does he hate Rich so much? Most of the questions will be answered in the end but some loose ties were left for those readers who will be interested enough to buy the second book in this series. This is definitely a story for those in the hip-hop generation and if you are not familiar with slang used on the East coast forget about understanding the language used. The idea of a hip-hop soap opera is interesting but the story did not have multi-dimensional characters or depth. I have to mention that the author states in the area usually reserved for thanking those instrumental in the development of the work for readers to "buy my %$#& book". Kinda sets you back, huh. What the heck was he thinking? I will definitely have to be strong-armed to read the next installment in this series. Hopefully, it will have more literary value.
Reviewed by M. Bruner for Loose Leaves Book Review

Diamond Drought is what's really good in Hip-Hop Fiction. Mr. McCalla gives you non-stop action as he thrills you with a story that keeps your interest from start to finish. I had the pleasure of getting a copy of the sequel(Diamond Dynasty) to this masterpiece after hounding Mr. McCalla for it - for months and it was worth the long wait. Diamond Dynasty and Diamond Drought are the Dynamic Duo when it comes to good "Can't put it Down" true hip-hop fiction. Mr. McCalla is a genius and a super author on the rise. Buy this book - I highly recommend it!

This book was good but a bit too much for me. Excessive foul language and slang galore. But the plot and characterization came across vividly. If you love hardcore, hip-hop urban fiction, this book is definitely for you. Actually I would give him 3 1/2 stars.

I was told I lack the brain capacity to understand this story. I guess he was correct. This story had no point what so ever. Now it did have a plot towards the end. But all through the book I kept saying no keep reading it will get better. Well needless to say it never did. Considering this is the first part of the saga I feel compelled to say Good Luck with the next ones. For this author to be so arrogant, I would have thought he would have pulled off a better story than this.

Maybe I am too old for all this "hip hop" slang stuff. Diamond Drought had so much unnecessary slang that I lost focus on the plot. All it talked about was bling bling and expensive cars. I see where Brandon McCalla was trying to take it, but my advice to you Mr. McCalla is that your book will be read by more than just rapping hip hoppers. For anyone interested in this piece, make sure you're not over 30! For the 30+, be careful about reading this one, you won't understand all the language. Speaking of which, it is full of bad language. I didn't like this one at all.

This was stated as "like new". It looked like it was 10 years old with edges darker and the back pages had water damage. I emailed the seller and got a generic reply to go to questions asked. I was not going to pay to have it sent back to them..I have read most of the reviews and see that they have done this a lot..
Linda B.

Interesting approach to self-healing. I actually went to Sedona to do journey work with two healers - very interesting and productive experience. I'm a bit of a skeptic on miracle cures, and I don't think this approach is miraculous, but if one is ready to change, and ready to do the work, and open to working with highly skilled spiritual guides - if one is READY for forgiveness and moving forward in life, this book/approach offers one viable venue.

this is an amazing book!!!! it teaches you alot and brandon's story is really interesting and inspiring!

I have not read this book yet. It arrived on time and in good condition.

The main advertising for this book & 'The Journey' therapy keeps making out that she had cancer.

She didn't have cancer, she had a tumor.
What does that mean? A tumor is just a swelling or a lump of any kind, it doesn't have to be cancerous.
Notice, she never states in the book she had cancer, because *she didn't*.
In her case, it sounds like a Uterine Fibroids (go google it). If you really want to be technical, a Subserosal uterine fibroid given that it was growing into her belly. I've seen reports that 50% of women over 35 have these growths, but they're usually small.
Brandon Bay on the other hand, was so in denial, so dismissive and rejecting of *standard* medical treatment, so sure that she was living a holistic life, so spiritually aware and positive and healthy, that she didn't do anything about it until it was apparently the size of a *basket-ball* (taking her word for it only here).
And of course, so caught up in her self-image as a spiritual and health expert, that she didn't admit to anyone, not her friends, what was happening.
I'm not so sure she's changed.

To explain the tumor a little more - sometimes, growth of these is caused by excess estrogen. if that is causing it, then going off HRT, and not taking any say, estrogen-enhancing supplements etc (as are quite commonly used in new age circles) will cause them to shrink again. Also, one of the treatments for is ultrasound to break up the fibroid mass - so, massage would be slightly effective for this. And of course, they often just get smaller on their own.

And now, she's presenting this 'new' healing method, that she should have been familiar with for years given the fields she was involved with, but instead, must somehow have been reeeaaally ineffective all those years, because she'd never had any emotional breakthroughs before, it only *worked* after having been really foolhardy with her own health, and now she uses this as example of transformation, while scarily and misleadingly presenting it in terms most people will think of as 'cancer', to present herself as an expert in spirituality and health - a guru.
Hmmmmmm....

Disclaimer: I'm not even a Doctor, I just know what Uterine Fibroids are. And the cancer thing really bugged me.

Most people know that huge numbers of Africans were sold into slavery, mostly after being kidnapped or taken prisoner by enemy African tribes, and taken to the other side of the Atlantic in appalling conditions to work as slaves in the Caribbean and the southern United States.

Not so many people know that between 50,000 and 80,000 Irish people and a number of Scots were also shipped over the Atlantic to work as "indentured servants" - in theory for seven years, in practice often for life. They were often treated even worse than African slaves - the plantation owner knew that his African slaves were an asset which could bring him some return for a lifetime, while his only interest in white indentured servants was to get as much work as possible out of them as possible in the seven years before he was supposed to free them. (Though in practice they were often re-sold and the seven years started all over again.)

This is a novel in which a fictional Irish girl, Cot Daley, kidnapped at the age of 11 from Galway and taken to Barbados, tells her story.

After a series of risings of African slaves and Irish "indentured servants" has been crushed, and most of the ringleaders have been hanged, a doctor is given the special commission by the island's governor to interrogate any prisoners in the island's jails who may know something about the rebellions. An elderly Irish woman, who has been flogged for carrying guns for the rebels, agrees to tell what she knows on condition that he records the whole story of her life, from the day she was stolen from Ireland many years before ...

Powerful, moving and very sad, this novel includes a number of references to non-fiction works and records which demonstrate that the ghastly crimes it records against slaves of African and Irish origin alike are based on real events. It sheds a light on a little known chapter in the huge volume of cruelty which is the story of slavery.

I really did not enjoy this book. This little known element of Irish history deserves far more literature on the subject, which I've discovered is hard to find. I was hoping this book would be captivating, but it simply is not. While the idea of the story is a compelling idea, it is so poorly written that I found myself not caring about the main character and wishing she would die so the book would end. The "voice" the author gives her main character is, most of the time, unbelievable... especially for one who is an uneducated slave. The authors' style of going between narrative of past events and the book's present day doesn't work well, and was at times frustrating. The fact that I made it through this book at all is amazing. I kept hoping for some wonderful moment to make the whole book worth it, but it never came.

Born in London and being of Irish decent myself; also having suffered living in Barbados for almost 10 years, I found this book very readable indeed. I'd truly love to meet the lady that wrote this masterpiece. I don't have any fancy words to add here - just my sincere thanks... thanks very much Kate McCafferty for turning me onto a whole aspect of my heritage I knew nothing about. After this I read "To Hell or Barbados" by Sean O'Callaghan and it's a historical account (not a novel) of the "ethnic cleansing of Ireland" and truly a shocking read. Thank you.

As an American of Gaelic descent (Irish/Scots/Welsh), a friend recommended this book to me, and it is from that vantage point that the author ostensibly wrote this novel. The testimony of Cot Daley is a thoroughgoing and riveting story -- a travesty of how the British Empire enslaved untold numbers of Irish and Scotch-Irish during their colonisation of the Americas.

However, when we get towards the end of the story, McCafferty, er, hijacks a peaceful tale to turn it into this pamphlet on how Cot and her black slave husband Quashey start a slave uprising. Fine and well, it reads great and I'd have no problem with it, save this: It is not *just* a slave uprising, but a Jihad (Quashey is Moslem) that McCafferty uses to describe the inspiration of the slaves to revolt.

Something is rotten in Denmark here (aside from riots over cartoons of Mohammed), and it stinks to high heaven. Let's read further: In the afterword to the book, McCafferty waxes eloquent about her dignified treatment she was given during the years she spent in Saudi Arabia, of all places. Hello? Am I missing something here? Women are treated lower than doggy doo there, worse than blacks in the American South during Jim Crow and certainly as bad as Cot Daley was treated in the West Indies during her forced captivity.

Even more: As recommended reading, Marxist nutjob Frantz Fanon is listed.

This is a pro-Jihadist screed posturing as a novel about the plight of Celts centuries ago, pure and simple. It was written to *soften* the reader's assessment of Moslem Jihad and bootleg respectability for violent Jihad into the reader's mind by using a wholly justifiable situation of Irish and African slaves revolting.

How dare Ms. McCafferty use my people's heritage as a cat's paw for an ugly message which ultimately only benefits violent radical terrorists! Shame on her!

After having conquered Ireland and carried out many massacres, atrocities (also carried out by Catholics on the local Protestant communities) and burning or torturing bishops and priests to death, Oliver Cromwell nominated his fourth son (Henry) as Lieutenant and Govenor General of Ireland.
Between 1652 and 1659 records show between 50 to 80,000 Irish men, women and children were transported to Virginia and Louisina(USA), Barbados, Monserat, Trinidad-Tobagos, Jamaica etc, in the Ethnic Cleansing of the Irish. The real figures were much higher.

These 'God Fearing Christians' could only enslave other 'pagan' humans and hence used the term 'indentured servants' (for mainly Irish, Scots and poor English) all that was available before an adequate supply of African slaves could be found at a later stage. After too many revolts, the Irish sent were mostly women and were coupled with Africans to increase their master's stock of slaves. In the beginning of the 1700's there hundreds of thousands of Afro-Celts ('Black' and 'Redshank/Redleg') who's main language was Gaelic (reared from the breast of their mothers) in many of the West Indies.
This book relates the Story of 'Cait' or Kate Daley kidnapped from Co. Galway at the age of 10 in 1651. Cait (who is no saint in the book) was married to an African rebel leader, Quashey ('Quaco'- a Moslem Coromantee).
Written, as if an eye has been kept for a Movie/TV series (which should be done), in the beginning includes too much detail and doesn't get started until page 60.
The detail was very relevant in the second part of the book (page 60+) and shows the benefit of good research. Through her storey we begin to understand the nature and glimpse the actual conditions for the slaves. You also gain some limited insight into the noble mind of Quashey and other Africans.
Although not a 'page turner' until the second part of the book, I found it very provocative and insightful of the human condition in these circumstances and the general working relationships between humans and between the different races/tribes.
The grinding system, that treated humans as animals or utilitarian livestock - is one that exists in the world to this day. A shame no mention was made to the 'Levellers', although there is a passing reference to that noble community, the 'Quakers'.

Back in Ireland the oppression continued and although people were not allowed wealth they did have a rich inheritance to pass on, one that was not then known to their 'masters' and never conquered.
Every clann had it's traditions and every Irish child had a 'right' to request from a parent or an aunt/uncle to teach them the skills in storey telling, writing, poetry, music, dance, politics and religion. Thus the Irish kitchen became the theatre, auditorium, ballroom, school room and library. Despite over 800 years of harsh rule, and thanks to the strong role of Celtic women in Ireland, even managed, in some places, to keep the language (Gaelic) intact to this day. As the saying in Gaelic goes, 'a Country without a language is a country without a soul'.
It was the theft of her inheritance, fear(as represented by the fear to play tin whistle her mother gave her) and being 'orphaned' that impoverished Cait and made her vulnerable.
In the narrative, Cait's testament (now old and brown but giving her story) is passed onto her 'orphaned' slave daughter (Betty) by somebody else's mixed race offspring. Whatever happened to her other daughter (Moya)?
This book itself acts as a 'testament' to the Afro-Celt/Afro-Irish diaspora who should 'RECLAIM' THEIR INHERITANCE (African & Celt) of their valiant ancestors, to pass onto their children. So that they can make their 'Tin Whistle' play music again. Not to be afraid, else like Cait will only be a beast of burden swallowed up in this life, deprived a direct connection to their children, with only a few material possessions to show. Like Cait, Confused-Isolated-Angry, and end up doing too little too late.
For those looking for some initial historical research see 'To Hell or Barbados-the Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland' by Sean O'Callaghan [Brandon]ISBN:0863222870 'To Hell or Connaught' by P. Ellis ISBN:0856404047, 'Whence the Black Irish of Jamaica' by Joseph Williams [LMac Veagh, Dial Press-1932]ASIN:B0006ALQP2, 'The World Upside Down' by Christopher Hill ISBN:0140137327, 'Quakers in the Cromwellian Army in Ireland' by Kenneth Carmel 1978, 'The English Levellers' by Andrew Sharp[Cambridge University Press]0521625114, 'White Servitude and Black Slavery in Barbados' by Beakles[Knoxville 1989].
Also the famous musician Antoni O'Breskey has produced a CD 'The New Orleans Jig' on this Afro-Celt mix[Ethnic Piano series]. In memory of Kelso Cochrane - Notting Hill, London
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I am shocked by previous reviewers saying this book "fails to meet the logic test." Fantasy isn't supposed to be about logic! This book is by far the best fantasy young teen book written in a long, long time. The humor is wonderful, the premise is fantastic. Of course, if you don't like to laugh, then you should avoid this book. Otherwise, you will find yourself along a very exciting adventure with Alcatraz Smedry, one of the newest and best characters who must save the world. Though this time it's saving the world from evil librarians... pure genius, Brandon Sanderson. Pure genius.

The world created for a book should be consistent and logical within its own set of rules. This book is set here and now and covers all of Earth so should work within (or at least with) "our" rules.

The premise of the evil librarians holding every bit of knowledge, and completely rewriting history wherever they defeat the Free Kingdoms is just plain stupid and fails the logic test. The description of how the librarians manage to keep the extra continents hidden is a throwaway comment in the text, and it displays both laziness and a lack of thought.

The frequent attempts to be witty and sarcastic came across as very annoying, making Alcatraz seem like a prat.

Don't dumb it down just because you are writing for children.

Rarely do I have time to read a book - this one came very highly recommended by my sister and her entire family. It took maybe an hour to read, mainly because I kept laughing. I enjoyed the plot twists and the subtle (or not) hints that maybe this could be real... I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially those like me well up the education ladder and full of knowledge!

I read it . . . lost interest in the first chapter, but kept on reading to see if it would get any better. It didn't. I found myself skimming through the last few chapters just to get to the end so I could say I read it. More than once I nearly abandoned the task in annoyance that I could have been reading something interesting. My opinion: it was a waste of several hours.

The story style is similar to A Series of Unfortunate Events (its sarcasm and oddness), but without the skill and cleverness. The author throws in a few "scholarly" references (i.e., Plato's "men in the cave" parable) and a smattering of "psychology"; but these little "nuggets" do not justify the time spent getting through the story. The picture of Alcatraz (the boy) on the cover was strikingly similar (almost identical!) to Harry Potter -- a ploy, in my opinion, to capitalize on that series.

My 9 year old son refuses to read. My sister (a librarian) suggested this book. This is now his all time favorite book. He laughed a lot and loved the part when it said a librarian probably did not suggest this book. After reading this book he is now more open to reading other book like it.

The information on websites such as Wookiepedia is much better. It dosn't go in depth, and right now is quite outdated. I was expected maps of the galaxy and planets, but there were none, just a very small section of the planet. I would wait until the Star Wars Atlas (Which I'm extremely excited for) comes out.

This book is very cool.There are 200 planets in this book.But there are way more planets then this.

This book is helpful for those who haven't read a certain Star Wars book, but come across one of the planets in that book mentioned in some other book. However, with all the new books coming out right now, you'll find that this book is pretty useless for them.

This book can be helpful to hard core fans, but it is woefully incomplete and I was not impressed with the tiny artwork. One reviewer here hit it spot on when they said that this book should have focused more on what the planets were like (climate, ecology, civilizations,cultures, mini-history) rather than rehashing the stories from those worlds. It would have been nice if they had explained the meaning of "Agriworlds" And "Industrial Worlds" and their roles in the SW Galaxy. It would have been nice if they'd done the obvious and updated the book to include the Prequel worlds too. And while they were at it, some of the more intrieguing worlds from the obscure corners of the universe like Togoria, Renastasia, Dellallt, Grizmallt,Taris, Or Malachor V.(Heck- since they could included Rafa IV, they could have included some of these) Of corse if they expanded this in the way I'd like to see, it would be a huge richly illustrated tome indeed. But I'd buy it.

Although it is not officially a supplement, I found this book indispensable for gamemastering in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. The fact is, there really isn't a better resource for finding new places to visit in the Star Wars Universe. Even if you're not into the RPG scene, however, this member of the 'Essential Guide' series is an excellent read.

For some of those, namely the hardcore fans that have read every single Star Wars thing ever published (I cannot claim this title, as I've only read about half of it all) this book might seem a bit redundant. All of the locations are taken from either film or literature, so if you've read all the literature it follows that you'll have seen all of the 100 worlds depicted here at least once. Nevertheless, it is useful to have all of this information in one place, in case you forgot just which world the Ugnaughts come from (Umgul) or how to spell "Mrlsst." The Star Wars Encyclopedia and Guide to the SW Universe have all of this information as well... somewhere. The problem is you have to remember what you were looking for to find it. This book simplifies matters if you just have to know, but can't recall any of it.

For those who are NOT hardcore fans or could care less that Wild Boetays can be found on Garos IV, you probably won't find this guide more than moderately amusing. The other ones in the series (Characters, Vehicles and Vessels, and Weapons and Tech, to name a few) might be more diverting. But for those who are serious about Star Wars (you know who you are) the Guide to Planets and Moons is a really cheap thrill.