Brandon Books

This slim graphic novel from Warren Ellis of The Preacher fame is at least a joke and possibly a travesty for all of the natural resources that were wasted on it.

A cliche group of military misfits - the men chisled and rough, the women buxum and bitchy - are offered freedom if they take a suicide mission of maximum destruction to save mankind. Even the story is beyond cliche at this point and ends up a complete insult to The Dirty Dozen.

This book is every twelve-year's science fiction wet dream - assuming they live in a cave and missed every science fiction movie ever made.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

This is an amusing, slightly over the top satire of Star Trek, and others, at times. Humans fight a war with aliens, and lose, badly. Your usual crew of criminals, misfits, and drunks, gets given one of the last ships left, and gets told to go and fight a guerilla war, or do whatever they can to be annoying. Ultimately the crew has to decide what they really should do.

It's a fast fun read that starts in the thick of action, and just keeps finding more trouble to get into after that. ST:TNG gets royally hoisted on its own petard. This isn't lifeless "perfect people" space adventure, but rather a story that stays true to human nature... including its best. Fans of military SF should enjoy it at face value. For current Trek fans it might be like a shock therapy. :)

My immediate reaction after reading SWITCHBLADE HONEY was: More!

I hope writer Warren Ellis has more space adventure stories to tell, whether sequels to this or more completely new ones. And I hope publisher Larry Young invites other name writers to write the space adventures they're inspired to -- that the mainstream comic publishers seem to fear to try that genre new to them -- for his impressive company.

So, basically, it's good. Real good. Read it. And you'll want more, too. :)

A horrible story combining all known stereotypes. Cliche "we'll let you out of jail for this one-way maximum property damage mission". The hot woman that pep talks the reluctant leader. Everyone is overly chiseled and always screaming (complete with straining neck tendons..but no daffy-duck spittle). The on-the-egde addict hacker. The clueless puritan. (I think everyone was white, too)

And all sorts of horrible insults to technology. I'm no comic snob or plot-hole snoop, but I would think that any high-tech enemy of the human race would keep external hackers from opening their airlocks via remote...that's bad enough to be distracting.

I honestly think this was an experiment to see how stupid the comic book public really is and how much trash they would pay to swallow. I am sure Ellis is laughing to himself as he coasted on this one.

I've read the Transmetropolitan series, and it's outstanding. The Authority and Planetary are excellent. This book is an anomaly, regardless of intent. Don't buy it.

EASY 'CAUSE YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL is a glimpse at a confused,
young, urban Black man who wants desperately to bring
some positive direction to his life.

25 year old Barry Waters is an aspiring musician and father
of a six year old daughter. He is struggling to 'find
himself' and doesn't realize he just needs to look within.
He has been employed as a waiter for the Forest Green Golf
Club for 5 years and though this is a dead end job; to
everything there is a purpose. When Barry meets his co-worker,
blue-eyed Maria Danucci, his heart trembles.

When Barry looks in the mirror, he knows he must make some
serious changes before he can accept the challenge. Because
what he sees is a man who has run out of other people to blame;
it's time for Barry to grow up.

Bennett writes with a warm, sensitive male voice, indicative
of the new Renaissance Man. But I struggled as I tried to
grasp much of his message, because I felt like I was stumbling
around in Barry's head while he was finding himself. I do
applaud the unguarded openness with which Bennett writes and
I think he is a voice that will command respect.

Reviewed by aNN

I would only recommend this book to someone who has nothing better to do then read words from a confused grown and immature man venting his self-inflicted issues and dramas. "A refreshing change", I think not. How many more people are going to write about thier problems?? Don't authors know that we all have problems of our own? How shameful to group the problems of "Barry" with problems of all African-American men.

I wasted my time reading about a black working man with a bastard child and a drinking problem who's obsessed with some white girl. OK, what's so unique about this situation?? Absolutley nothing!!

I will say that Mr.Bennett's writing style is intresting. That was the only reason I finished the book. Let me give "Barry" some advise... Lower your ego, go to AA, be a stable father and don't try to find yourself through a woman. Now let me give some advise to anyone thinking about getting this book... Only buy it if you feel like reading God knows how many pages of self-pity.

Brandon Bennett's first novel, Easy Cause You're Beautiful, tells the story of
Barry Waters. Barry is in his mid-twenties and feels like his time is running
out. He has a dead end job, bills to pay and a daughter he is struggling to
maintain a relationship with and support. Although he is unhappy with his
life, his way of coping is avoidance, alcohol and marijuana. Once he meets
Maria Danucci at his job all that begins to change.

Suddenly, Barry finds himself wanting to be a better man. But wanting to
change and actually changing are two different things. As Barry develops high
hopes for a potential relationship with Maria, he finds himself aspiring to
greater things. He struggles with his alcoholism, his family relationships,
his relationship with his daughter and her mother and his own insecurities.

Easy `Cause You're Beautiful is a wonderful book that gives voice to a twenty
something African American male that is ready to grow up. The book focuses on
the day-to-day struggles of a man with a dead end job, a child to support, and
with a desire to finally find true love. This book was a refreshing change
from the many books that offer a female perspective on things. Brandon Bennett,
a musician himself, did a great job of integrating his own love for music into
the story as well. He addresses a number of tough issues, including substance
abuse and interracial relationships with finesse. I loved the way the ending
was both surprising but not overly neat and tidy. If you are looking for a
book that addresses a lot of the issues being faced by young adult African
American men without the predictability and "high drama" of some of the
mainstream fiction that is out there, check out this book!

Reviewed by Stacey Seay

As is usual with the White Wolf line of products they offer the screen to cover "the information you do not want them to see" together with a booklet that contains a few interesting facts of the setting (just to help you understand this world better) as well as a small adventure for starting players. A word of advise: if any of your players has bought a lot of powers with the tainted option (it is cheaper that way but can be abused very easily) you should beef up the antagonists, regular characters would sweat and cry to finish the story but a powerful nova just would wipe them like dust. The screen provides tables which are not very useful overall, but good enough to help you out of the problem. My opinion? If you are short on money better buy more useful books, buy if you like to use screens it is O.K. to have.

What effect do Novas have on our world? After reading Aberrant: The Storyteller's screen, you'll have some idea. Unfortunately, it just may not be enough. Kraig Blackwelder makes a heroic attempt to cram all sorts of good info into a book that is a mere 72 pages long. In it, you will find some pretty good detail about the world of 2008. Novas are mortals, heroes, and Gods all rolled into one Quantum-charged package; It's natural that there would be businesses built by them, comics based on them, and people to worship them. The Stroyteller's screen gives us something to work with. The pre-made, self contained story "Permanent Vacation" is excellent; easily one of the best for a fledgling Storyteller or a group of new players. Enough key players are given, especially for the Nova-only club "The Amp Room," that the section is useful even if you have no intent on running the story. Plentiful flavor text fills out the book, but it does seem to fall short at times. The bottom line? You can run a game without it. That's pretty much true for any supplement book in any Roleplaying game. Some people will love it, others won't. Technically, I believe it deserves another half-star, it's definitely worth a read.

I have been an Angelina Jolie fan since she was pregnant with Shiloh. It hasn't been too long but I already heard most about the things that were in the biography from a single, but thorough fansite of Angelina's, [...].

Brandon Hurst DID give good information on Angelina's childhood, which many people, including fans, don't know about but want to know; such as the rumors and exaggerations of Angie's very young love life. The whole "first chapter" in the book strictly covered Angelina's parents' life from before, during, and after Angie's birth, including what really went on about her father cheating on Marcheline, Angie's mother.

Most of the rest of the book mostly told you what tabloids tell you. If you are buying this biography to know what went on "behind the scenes" of the Jennifer-Brad-Angelina ordeal, don't expect to find out anything new because no one except Angelina and Brad knows what really happend so the author could only tell you as much as the rest of the world knows. But if you don't know much about Angelina, her childhood, her parents, early acting career, and beyond, this touches major points in her life that is good for the unknowledged fan of Angelina Jolie.

I give this biography three stars b/c it allows the reader to read a bit more about Angelina's childhood that is not prev. known. The author goes out of his way to make it clear to the reader that the image and the woman are two different things. To get people to go beyond the shocking headlines and judgement.

However, a great deal of this book is simply a rehash of tabloid articles. The author tries to be fair to Jolie, and is for the most part, but there is no real stucture to it, it has way too many borrowed quotes from tabloids that make up a great deal. There are some phrases and discriptions of both Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt towards the end that are rather crude and unfair. Perhaps I'm being too hard on this book but frankly I was expecting better. I purchased this book because I'm a fan of Angelina Jolie so I already know alot about her. I was hoping to get a less tabloid point of view about her life and career. Like I said it takes so much from British rags that it's hard to know what is real and what is actually from Ms. Jolie.

[...]

As I went through high school and college, I worked in the service industry doing menial jobs for the public, such as pumping gas, so I have a certain amount of sentiment for that portion of the workforce. This book had the potential to inform the public about such work and how it feels to be treated poorly by the public on a daily basis. It didn't, however, take advantage of the opportunity.

The book is basically a 50+ page rant by the author. It is poorly written, laden with mistakes, and appears not to have been edited. The structure is poor and the book is hard to follow. In addition, other than calling customers names, the author doesn't offer any constructive advice on how we could change the way this type worker is treated by the public.

Save your money. This vanity press "book" isn't worth much and certainly no what the publisher is charging. I would have given it zero stars if that had been possible.

Hearing about this book on Wrestlecrap radio and following the advice to this site, I just read the description and am I amazed that such a book exists and that a very large audience that this book needs may not have been tapped yet. At one time I wrangled some carts as well and am amazed at the people I still deal with on a daily basis who come into a store and you can almost hear IQ's plummeting since these people expect to be pampered to their hearts content or else they can throw a fit and storm out the door and someone could be without a job simply because they had the courage to stand up to some nuisance they call a customer.

"Customers are your paycheck" "The customer is always right" Please, don't make me choke from gutlaughing. Anyone who said that never worked these jobs before, or is now one of these sick things called a customer.

Is that what the book is really about? I don't know but from the preview I read that could sum it up. Retail is a tough life and is one that not many people escape, this book should be their (our) bible equivilant.

Note: I just discovered that APress seems to have the glasshaus, as well as many wrox, books and the _Contribute End-User Training Guide_ is now available for download. I will update my review after working through it.

The whole reason I purchased this book over books half the price was for the unlimited free downloads of the glasshaus _Contribute End-User Training Guide_ from their web site. It is not there. I have since discovered that the publisher is officially insolvent. Of course, their web site doesn't mention this fact. It just says to keep checking their site for their _Contribute End-User Training Guide_.

Hey glasshaus! Thanks for keeping your site up to date! Thanks for putting a present tense promise on the back of a book and shipping it without ever bothering to put the guide on your site for download.

If you need to learn to use Contribute and can't just figure it out on your own or from the online documentation, save yourself about $... and get something like the _Visual QuickStart Guide_. Just don't buy this book expecting an end-user training guide.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others. It's an easy read even if you are a beginner, but isn't too simple for more advanced users. It provides essential material on how to set up Contribute and customizing it which was a great help. These authors produced a book that offers both practical and readable understanding. The only complaint I can say about the book was the tutorials are not available from Glasshaus, but from what I heard they went out of business so I guess I shouldn't have expected too much out of them.

And with this I stop buying G.I. Joe comics from Devil's Due. Nice job. Your creative team just hit rock bottom!

I lost all interest in the Devil's Due's G.I. Joe stories when they started killing off all the fan favorite characters. Sure people die in wars, but lets leave that to reality. When I read a comic I want to feel like there is a chance good might win in the end and a hero can't be held back. The writers did a good job of killing off my childhood heroes and turning the great G.I. Joe story started by Larry Hama into something darker and uninspiring. Larry Hama is a great writer and his G.I. Joe is the one I will read. Devil's Due's run of G.I. Joe had some high points early, but soon became pathetic. I am glad to see they will no longer be in charge of the title.

The stage was set in G.I. Joe Union of the Snake, and now in G.I. Joe: Rise of the Red Shadows, Devil's Due has followed up with perhaps the most significant Joe storyline in years as the team is shaken to its very core with the events in this book. We've seen agents of both the Joe team and Cobra targeted by a shadowy new organization called The Red Shadows. For years the group has sat quietly, waiting and planning a devastating attack against both groups to not only eliminate, but discredit them as well. The fanatical group is led by the charismatic Wilder Vaughn, a former British special OPS member who the Brits insisted was dead. The Red Shadows seek no less than to establish a "new world order" (a term we've heard often) with the destruction of established world governments, religions, militaries, and even financial institutions. The Red Shadows are as much a cult as they are a covert team of soldiers, remarkably staying two jumps ahead of the Joe team.

Meanwhile all is not going well with the Joes and their new commander General Rey. The Joe team is still under investigation by the government after the events in Union of the Snake. Add to that, their former puppet masters "The Jugglers" are assassinated and a mole within their group has wiped their computer systems clean. The team soon learns that the Red Shadows seeks to gain control of the world-wide operating system that is used to control the arsenals of weapons from nations around the world. But that's not even the worst of it, as the rumors are true, a long time member of the team will lose their life in this conflict.

Rise of the Red Shadows reprints the double-sized issues numbers 42 & 43 of the G.I. Joe series. In fact Devil's Due considers the story so monumental that issue #43 would be the last of the series. The company then launched their new title G.I. Joe: America's Elite with an issue #0 last year, picking up the story one year after the events in Rise of the Red Shadows. Long time fans may no doubt be shocked at the events in the book but as pointed out in the issue's commentary, the book had become perhaps too safe. While the Devil's Due version was far edgier than when the title was at Marvel, there was still the prevailing feeling that the main characters would always be safe. Clearly Devil's Due is saying this isn't your father's G.I. Joe anymore. Real world threats come with real world consequences and tragedies. Devil's Due continues to take the Joe Team in a dynamic new direction!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This was my first time reading Halberstam and I've decided we don't jell. If you're a fan, of course you'll like her earlier work on Queer theory. If not, this book is hit or miss. My main complaint: too much of her argument involves the same stereotyping and intolerance she rails against.

it's impossible for me to be entirely fair because i absolutely LOVE judith halberstam...
as a student of gender and queer history, i find dr. halberstam's work so compelling because not only does it utilize pathbreaking and up-to-date theoretical schema, but the lovely doctor also writes with wit and ease, making her new book a very pleasurable read. her use, as always, of visual texts to suppliment her arguements is helpful and engaging. her work on trans issues is groundbreaking and fresh, and if you're going to read anything on the subject, please read her.
it's my dream to be the femme version of dr. halberstam. enough said.

I also do Irish research and have a Masters degree from a Catholic University. What I see with Gerry Adam's book are revisionist histories. He fails to mention anything negative about how Catholics mind controlled and destroyed the original Gaelic religion and arts. He ignores works by Casear. Like his Irish Republican followers, he mocks Irish myths and tries to silence opinions. Compared to an author like Jean Markle on the Celts, he is just political rambling.

I usually never respond to reviews of books, but this one is beyond the pale. In reference to Adair's comment. A Masters degree from a Catholic University in Irish studies: what is that meant to prove? I did my MA in Ireland and I'm in a PhD program, also in Irish studies, if you want to play that game of trying to assert dominance over your reader. Perhaps Adams doesn't go into a diatribe about the Catholic church since the destructive effect of the church on traditional culture is already understood and as a singular statement it's reductive- as if that were the entire story or if colonial interference didn't also play its part. The resurgence of the Catholic church in Ireland can actually be attribued to Edward VI's sister, "Bloody Mary," by the way. I fail to see how Republicans mock their history or try to silence opinion. As someone else has pointed out, political discourse is to be expected from a politician. I doubt you have much background in Irish politics or a working knowledge of the last ten years of the Peace Process, let alone can articulate a constructive defintion of Irish Republicanism an insult, by the way, to those who do understand the movement and self-identify as such. Perhaps if you were made to teach what you claim to study and had to work through these issues you might be able to offer something more(perhaps something scholarly, as the review touts itself to be) than an attack on a man who has had such a profound effect on the nationalist movement in the North of Ireland. His dialogue on recent support of policing and meditations on international anti-colonial efforts and all that was got out of it was that he should criticize the church more? For those with a serious interest in Irish politics, or who have read and enjoyed Adams' Cage Eleven: Writings from Prison, The Street and Other Stories or his more recent texts on politics, do not be swayed by one bad review

Any potential readers of this book should understand, first and foremost, that this is not really a book about "modern Isis worship," per se - at least not in the sense that most modern pagans would be familiar with. Rather, it is a book about Isiacism, which is the ancient faith of the Goddess Isis. And it is about bringing back a historically authentic version of Isiacism, not about revising it or making up a new version to fit modern sensibilities.

While the author tries to be sensitive to making Isiacism relevant for today, he clearly has a very distinctive idea about what is truly "relevant" in modern Western spirituality, and this idea may not agree with the ideas of many modern pagans. Williams, like many other mystics throughout time, believes that in order to find Truth we must turn inward, and that means turning away from worldly distractions.

Isiacism in the ancient world was not only a tradition of jubilation, as the author notes, but also one of austerity. The claim was made in a previous review that the author carries this bent toward asceticism over from his own personal experience within Buddhism, but anyone who has actually studied anything about ancient Isiacism would know this not to be the case, for Isiacism itself was (and, for Williams, is once again) a highly ascetic tradition, requiring great sacrifice and renunciation from its adherents. If this fact bothers you, then I suggest you look elsewhere for inspiration. Williams does not seek to cater to what modern pagans may or may not find acceptable - he is simply reconstructing the ancient tradition of Isis authentically, and that's that. In a sense, Williams isn't really a "pagan" at all by modern standards - he is a traditionalist and, most significantly, a genuine mystic in the classical sense, living a dedicated life of renunciation and austerity in devotion to his Goddess. As such, he brings something very unique and important to the modern pagan world, which it has not yet had.

There have obviously been individuals over the last 50 years or so worshipping Isis in their own way, and the author never denies this fact. However, the fact still remains that no one prior to Williams has genuinely resurrected a historical version of the ancient religion of Isis. Until now, Isiacism simply hadn't been practiced in an authentic way (that we know of) since around the fall of Philae in the 6th century C.E. Of course, practicing an authentic version of ancient Isiacism is not for everyone, but the author is not dogmatic and does not denounce others who are practicing alternate forms of the worship of Isis. The point being: this is one possible path amongst many, and, being a highly austere path, it will likely only ever be for the few, not for the masses.

For those who are intimidated by the idea of genuine spiritual striving, or by the renunciation of modern, worldly distractions in order to achieve divine communion, the authentic faith of Isis - and this book, which brilliantly outlines its reconstruction - is probably not for you; there are plenty of other books out there about Isis that would likely make more suitable choices than this one. But, for the few who are genuinely called to truly devote their lives to Isis in an authentic and truly transformative mystical context, this is the book to have. There simply isn't anything else out there even remotely like it.

This book will prove a huge disappointment to anyone devotedly worshipping the Goddess Isis today. To be a "real" and "pure" Isiac in Williams' Reconstructionist Order (an order he freely admits on page 33 "presently exists only in theory") in Chapter 4, all male priests "unequivocally" must be circumcised "without exception" (though even the male laity is encouraged in the same paragraph), as well as bathe 3 times a day (the laity must bathe prior to entering sanctified space) in order to make oneself barely acceptable to approach Isis, and be head to toe body shaved once every three days. Female "devotees" (it's unclear whether this means priestess or worshipper) should cover their heads with a black cloth "at all times" when out in the world to show piety. Although vegetarianism is not supported, for example by the remains of the priestly meal found at Pompeii, which included eggs and fish, Williams' Isiacs should be vegetarian (p.35), go to Isiac confession and confess ones sins/transgressions/violations against Isiac religion and the author's Isiac Laws, and give up TV, commercialism and worldly concerns (p.37). It should here be remembered that the Egyptian priesthood operated on a rotational basis throughout the year (months on and months off) and when off-duty returned to their very worldly lives of supporting families and personal careers outside the priesthood. Adultery or even sleeping with an adulterer (?!) is here considered an especially nasty anti-Isis crime (the author seems to conveniently forget Osiris' tumble with Nephthys resulting in the birth of Anubis - which Isis never seemed to mind) - the list goes on and on.

He also has his own mystically channeled Aretalogy which he claims came directly from Isis, but seems nothing more than a semi-poetic reiteration and allegedly divine confirmation of all his various proscriptions found throughout this short book - including Isis ominously saying "Do not transgress against me". In this same channeled piece, Isis also says Her followers should wear black, when most ancient sources (with two possible mentions of the very small Melanophoroi sub-group in Greece) mention the brilliant white robes of both priesthood and worshippers. However black and white were certainly not the only options. Written evidence, frescoes and statuary reveal multi-colored vestments, embroideries, fringed shawls, etc.

Williams' elaborations on the Egyptian Negative Confession (a funerary recitation from Ancient Egypt that is not specifically Isiac) are somewhat disturbing - including being "banished from the community" (p.72) for severe transgressions. In Willams' interpretation of the Negative Confession, some sexual taboos that are laughable by modern sexology standards - are considered impure. This is entirely based on a mythological episode where the God Set "rapes" Horus - which some scholars view as inter-femural coitus (popular among the ancient Greeks) - which does not involve actual penetration. There is ultimately no conclusive evidence that the Negative Confession was ever part of Greco-Roman Isis worship.

Reconstructionist Isis Religion is repeatedly portrayed in this slim self-published Lulu text as a cloistered, inward turning, ascetic path, that is about negation of self, destruction of ego and a moving away from the "fractured, impious and morally degenerate world." Personally I think this speaks more of the author's years spent within the Buddhist community, as repeated use of Buddhist terms suggests - he's just clothed that experience in Isis-drag, fusing it with the minimal archaeological facts available to us concerning Isis worship in the Greco-Roman World. This becomes apparent in the use of prayer beads (again enjoined by Isis in the channeled Aretalogy) for chanting meditation - and an accompanying basic meditative technique that's adapted right out of standard Buddhist practice. We really have no evidence that ancient Isis worshippers used prayer beads. And although Apuleius mentions Lucius "contemplating" the temple statue of Isis in his Metamorphoses, there is no definitive mention of actual meditation in the current evidence. Conveniently omitted are the earthier, love and sexual aspects of Isis embraced during the Greco-Roman period - such as Isis-Aphrodite. Working prostitutes were regularly welcomed among the worshippers of Isis - as were slaves - during the late Roman period. Such omissions are clearly to support the author's claim of a universal chaste asceticism within his reconstructed Isis cult.

Nowhere does the use of a sistrum appear in the book - which if he's doing an historical reconstruction, how can one ignore the repeated portrayal of Isiac priests/priestesses and worshippers (including children) in Roman and Pompeian art, shaking sistra? Curiously absent are the hallmark situla carried by priestesses of Isis as well as the urnula/hydreion of Nile water carried by the officiating priest. But lest we forget - this book is written as an introduction for the potential laity and you have to be an initiated scholarly priest to really know the inner secret workings of this reconstructed mystery religion - a religious order we must remember which only exists in theory. Maybe you get a sistrum once "Father Brandon" has checked if you're circumcised, body shaved and chomping veggies religiously and given you the secret decoder ring. After all he claims to be "the first known, authentic Isiac priest since the end of the Classical era in antiquity." According to whom? Seems more ego-dissolution and austerities are in order.

The book claims to be a way to bridge historical ancient Isiac religion with modern times. For most people in the 21st Century West this would be an impossibility, in spite of the rather idealistic view on page 88 of unconditional family support - try telling your wife/husband/partner/kids that you're giving up your lucrative worldly career to become a mendicant. There are many modern pagan paths to Isis - which some have been happily and successfully recreating and following for more years than the author has been alive. It has not been dead for 1500 years as the author claims. Modern worship of Isis is not about endless patriarchal negation and turning away from the world, but rather the inclusive, nurturing love of the Great Goddess, which embraces many paths to personal truth and divine revelation, guided by ethics and perspectives that are actually applicable in today's world. This book clearly represents one man's limited view of Isis worship - but certainly not the only or even prevailing view. Save your hard earned money or you'll end up a disappointed consumer like I was.