Brian Books

This was a terrific book I highly recommend to anyone interested in the form of the tournament, especially SCA and other medieval revival types. I particularly liked the attention paid to manners and behavior.

I am a proud owner of this book and read it often. It's a fascinating read even for those who might not be involved in SCA or other historical reenactment, but who might want to learn more about the Code of Chivalry and what honour really means. I myself try to live up to the Code as described inside - and I often fail miserably. I have a greater appreciation for those in the SCA who live by the Code, while IN character or OUT. It's also physically beautiful and it exudes nobility.

Friel on the page is almost as vivid as he is on stage.

Really, to call Friel an Irish playwright is to pigeon hole him unfairly. This group of plays by Brian Friel attests to his extraordinary talent as a modern playwright, period. He dramatizes the human journey using equal doses of humor, pathos and tragedy. These remarkable, fully-dimensional characters leap of the page, or, if you're very lucky, the stage. No avid theater fan should be without these works of art. Order this collection immediately.

I bought this book for my nephew and he loved it! It's a nice hardcover and had great pictures.

I just finished Jim Sumner's book. It's called "Tales From The Duke Blue Devils
Hardwood". It's a great read and nearly impossible to put down. The Book Chronicles Duke Basketball history beginning with Wilbur "Cap " Card a Trinity College graduate from 1902 who returned to introduce basketball at Trinity in 1906 and culminates with the Blue Devils 15th ACC title in 2005.
The majority of the book was taken from interviews from the likes of Mark Alarie,Tate Armstrong, Gene Banks, Joe Belmont,Vic Bubas, Tom Butters, Johnny Dawkins,Randy Denton,Danny Ferry, Mike Gminski,Bernie Janicki,Jack Marin,Dan Meagher,Gary Melchionni, Jim Spanarkel and Robby West to name a few.

I am a giant fan of Brian Wildsmith's beautiful books, so I knew what I was going for -- and I was just as thrilled with the Spanish edition. I have a new little grandson whose father is Spanish speaking and I am trying to build a bi-lingual library for the lad -- and these lovely works fit right in. Thank you. :-)

Specifically designed, written, and illustrated for children ages 6 months to 4 years, Brian Wildsmith's Zoo Animals is a delightful board book that introduces animals commonly seen at the zoo. Youngsters can name the animals while parents and care givers can teach them interesting facts about each creature represented in vivid colors. Very highly recommended for family, preschool, kindergarten, and day-care board book collections, Brian Wildsmith's Zoo Animals is also available in Spanish: Brian Wildsmith Los animales del zoologico.

This is a beautifully illustrated board book. This edition is only in Arabic (not bilingual). My husband reads it to our daughter in Arabic, but I can still read it to her in English (colors and animals are pretty self-explanatory, haha).

It is simple, it is to the point, it is tiny, and both me and my daughter love it. Perfect for her age (2 years). It is simple sentences describing the color of the animal on the picture next to the writing.

Good book.

Gary Paulsen has doen it again. Brian's Winter continues the original "Hatchet" story supposing Brian were not rescued before Winter set in. My children and my boy scout troop have enjoyed this immensely. I purchased the unabridged audiobook. Actor Richard Thomas, who portrayed Johnboy Walton on TV, narrates this excellent production. A small amount of appropriate music accompanies the narration. Paulsen's writing and Thomas' reading are so good that I think there must have been sound effects, but upon reviewing a few exciting sections of the story I found none; if used, they are used sparingly and never detracted from the story.

I'd previously imparted some my military experience to those I lead. However, I believe my children, my scouts, my fellow scouters (other scout leaders), and even I am better able to understand what real survival entails after reading (and now hearing) the Hatchet stories.

These books are the perfect couterpoint to Tom Hanks character in the movie "Castaway." Side-by-side, the two offer a superb illustration of the fundamental characteristics of survival, while each offering it's own perspectives on surviving within diverse circumstances.

Other survival movies and stories that I love include Walkabout coming out of Australia, Shackleton's Adventure in the Antarctic, and Paradise by Joan Elizabeth Goodman. There are also many real-life accounts online at

[...]

for example.

My son loved The Hatchett. This was a great follow up to what would of happened if Brian wasn't rescued before the onset of winter.

This book marks a giant step forward for Knight. While I enjoyed both Feral and even his early work with Black Day, I absolutely loved Broken Angel. The main characters, Grim and Michele are multi-layered and beautifully real. Knight must really remember the fun and fear and angst of beeing a teenager. And the story itself is both subtle and disturbing. There are no easy scares or gross-outs here. Instead, it gets under your skin and sticks in your brain. With every book of his I read, Knight's talent gets richer. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

Throughout history, knights have shared tables with kings. This Knight is no exception. I wish I had discovered Brian Knight twenty years from now because I would be able to digest one wonderful story after another instead of having to wait from one to the next. He creates characters that you will love almost from the start. His world easily becomes yours while he holds you in his trance and takes you along the roads, paths, and trails that his words create.

Broken Angel is the second spell I've let this writer capture me with and I can't wait for the next. Solid characters reacting to extraordinary circumstances leave you wishing the story would go on and on. Suspension of disbelief is not a chore when reading this book; you do so willingly almost with a sense of gratitude.

If you are considering ordering this book, stop considering and just order. No need to thank me for helping make up your mind.

The horror genre has belonged to a King for as long as I can remember; I now find comfort in the fact that, should the throne ever go empty, there is a Knight standing by to protect it, and possibly, one day, to ascend.

Before taking a trip to Kenya, I was recommended this book. It was helpful how the author described the dangers in Nairobi and the troubles the Kenyans face with Aids on the rise and the effects that it has on the children with their parents dieing. The insight was also nice on how the locals live in the villages, foods they eat and traditions, which tourists rarely get to view. The author has a good sense of humor with the difference in cultures. As a world traveler I found the information helpful, entertaining and heartfelt for the people of Kenya.

This was a very interesting book. It was very informative about the culture the author was a part of and the customs of the people.I enjoyed the humor in the storytelling. The details of the situations that occured were quite entertaining.I would read more books by this authors on his missionary adventures.

I enjoyed the book very much. For hockey fans and non-hockey fans. An easy read that recaps the history of the Bruins in small easy to read chapters. Rather than just tell the history, which it does do, it includes behind the scenes stories which are funny, interesting, and amazing. I'm looking forward to reading the entire Original Six series by this author. A great starting book for all hockey fans and especially those who don't know much about hockey but are interested!

As a long time Bruin fan, I highly recommend this book. McFarlane does an excellent job recounting many great stories from the early years of this great franhise to the Bruins today. This book would also make a great gift for any hockey fan. Highly recommended.

This is the variant cover issue of issue No. 6 in JOSS WHEDON'S SEASON EIGHT of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. I vastly prefer the regular cover, which shows Faith at her attitudinal best, holding the can with which she spray-painted "Faith" over "Buffy" in the title. Although contrary to popular mythology there was never a Faith series that Elisa Dushku opted against in order to star in TRU CALLING, there had been some initial discussion of doing such a series before the other project made her unavailable. One still wonders what direction that show would have taken, but this initial issue shows just a little of the potential that series would have held. As fascinating a character as Faith was, we never learned too terribly much about her backstory. We know that she was from a broken home in the Boston area, but not much more than that.

One episode of ANGEL explored the new world in which there are many slayers. In that episode Angel had to go up against a slayer who was insane. In this new episode Giles recruits Faith to go up against a slayer who is apparently evil. Frankly, I expect a twist of some sort, but at this point the slayer, an aristocratic young lady in Great Britain, clearly is serving the interests of a warlock. Why we don't know but Faith has been commissioned with the job of killing her.

I really liked this episode a lot. I loved the first five issues, but if I had a complaint with them it was that they tried to work too many familiar characters into them. The stories had, I felt, a bit too much content for the number of pages allotted. But here there was a near perfect balance between story and content.

This issue was written by Brian K. Vaughan, which is interesting for a host of reasons. One of the most gifted comic writers around, one of Vaughan's greatest creations was The Runaways, which he did for Marvel. Anyone familiar with BUFFY could have guessed that the TV series was the major influence on The Runaways, something that Vaughan has confirmed in interviews. So it seemed appropriate that when Vaughan ended his work on the comic that Joss Whedon would take over. And now Vaughan has come over to write this new Faith arc for Whedon. They have formed a wonderful mutual admiration society and should -- please dear God bring this about -- Whedon tire of comics and finally get back to television as he ought, I'm certain that Vaughan might get an opportunity to write for a new medium. The great news is that so far both Vaughan and Whedon are doing a wonderful job of honoring and carrying on each other's creations.

In short, this continues to be a remarkably good series. And as a huge fan of BUFFY I continue to find this new season of my all time favorite show (along with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) to be enormously satisfying.

*For those of you not well versed in comics, this variant edition of Buffy #6 is simply the same comic with a different, slightly rarer, cover.*

This was by far and away the best issue of Season Eight so far. But let's back track a little before we get too ahead of ourselves.

There has never been a Faith-centric episode before in either "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Angel." I hear the gasps now. "What about Revelations, Bad Girls, Sanctuary, Orpheus, Who Are You, or Dirty Girls?" I see your point, guys. Faith was a major character in those. But those episodes aren't Faith-centric the way that 'The Zeppo' is Xander-centric, and 'Real Me' is Dawn-centric. See, in those Faithy episodes, we mostly just see Faith through other people's eyes. 'Who Are You?' is the exception to that, but even in that episode, we just see Faith simultaneously trying mess up/live Buffy's life. But here, we get a full on Faith-centric story, with the Bad Girl herself as the main character. That went on a little longer than I thought it would, for the record.

About the comic. It's, as they say, gold. The story was told perfectly, without the sometimes confusing transitions that made up "The Chain" and were sometimes present in "The Long Way Home." Each scene is given ample time to play out, and--instead of huge, swooping revelations and the return of old characters aplenty--what Vaughan concentrates on here is the subtle way each character's personalities reveal themselves when said characters talk to each other. The best examples of this are the Faith/Giles scenes in this issue: In a few short pages, so much seems to happen between these two characters. He gives her a mission (introducing the main plot of this arc), he trains her (and he SPOILER: gets stabbed by her with a SPOILER: fork), and the two of these characters connect and relate to each other in a way that they never have on the actual show.

The Buffy/Xander scene is interesting, but doesn't reveal much. It's funny, because I--and many other Season Eight readers--were under the impression that black borders on a page mean that it's a dream sequence. However, the Buffy and Xander conversation, black borders and all, seems utterly real. There was no indication whatsoever that the conversation was part of a dream; my only guess is that it was black-bordered because, perhaps, Buffy talks to Xander about dreams that she HAS been having, but other than than, I'm coming up with nothing.

Reading this felt like watching an episode of Buffy. The art was atmospheric and spot-on. The panelling of the issue was interesting, and really different than that of Issues 1-5. And different is always intriguing. There was more use of the empty white space in some pages, and I liked that. The scene with Lady Genevieve is particularly beautiful, and it makes me realize how much I missed Georges' art. About what I mentioned before though. Giles' shirt. It's just.... no. Really, really no. Please, never again Georges.

Now, this is usually where I start to get into the downside of the comic, but turns out that there really isn't any. All I have as of complaints is something about Giles' attire that I'll bring up in the ART section, but everything else here seems perfectly fine. Vaughan's writing is perfect in capturing the characters, and he clearly is a great comic-script writer. If I were to say anything I didn't like about this issue, it wouldn't be part of the story. It's actually something that I read in the "Slay the Critics" section. Someone wrote in to ask the question many of have been debating on since the release of Issue #3. "If Warren didn't die, how could The First Evil take on his form in Season Seven." Joss himself actually stopped in to answer that question. His answer is, and I quote, "He was legally dead for like a second. Amy didn't tell him 'cause she didn't want to upset him. I forgot, okay?!" One thing I've always admired about Joss Whedon is the attention that he gives to continuity, and I admit that it's very big of him to admit his error. However, I think he could've explained it away much better and made the fans much happier than the way he answered it. Warren very plainly tells Willow in Issue #4 that her "Bored now" were the last words he heard of his human life. Well then. Joss simply could've said that the fact that Amy's magic--not at all a human, or living, function--was sustaining Warren, and that he--like a vampire--was to be considered UNDEAD. That would allow for him to be the walking, talking thinger that he is AND for The First to appear as him. But oh well. There's our answer.

Oh, by the way, that in no way is meant to be an insult to Joss. I love the guy. Hell, I'm known for putting the smack down on anyone who disses him. I just kinda felt we deserved a better explanation than that, is all.

But, about the actual comic itself, it's great. Really great. Up until today, "The Long Way Home part 3" was my favorite issue of the series. Well, it's just moved to second place, because "No Future For You part I" rocks out with its youknowwhat out.

9/10