Butler Books

I bought this book at a fair knowing nothing about it or the author. Read it in two sittings, and while this book is obviously amateur in it's storytelling and charactization, the actual storyline is a good one. I stayed interested...and really that's good enough for me. I wouldn't recommend paying too much money to get this book but if you ever come across it it's worth the time.

This is a poorly written book. No explanations are given for why the great disaster caused a tyranny to arise nor are the tyrants, "The rulers", ever revealed as actual people . The reader doesn't know where they live or why they act as they do.
More disturbingly the book is a crude attempt at feminism of an out of date type. There is even a culminating section in which the noble brave women slaughter the evil stupid men.
There is an incompetent attempt to criticize racism but again not enough background. A quick reader might easily miss that Lex is a Native American.
I would not recommend this book for any age. I did not want to give it even one star and I consider myself to be a liberal.

I would not want any young person to read this with an uncritical eye.

I loved The Hermit Thrush Sings. I have read it so many times. I am waiting for a sequel. It should be a must -read for everyone. It reallys portrays courage, and wisdom.

I read this book my senior year in highschool. I took an American Literature course and we had to choose between five books. I liked the cover of this one so I chose it and did not realize what it exactly was going to be about. I loved it! One of the best books I have read. The author was very creative and wrote in a manner to which anyone could understand or relate to. It IS science fiction and my be witten differently than a novel, but it DOES NOT make it bad literature.
Would definately recommend!

'Long ago in the time of dinosaurs, a great tragedy struck the Earth, starting a new world of life. Now, the disaster had repeated itself and befallen the Earth once again. A government strives to dictate the few remaining establishments, feeding them lies to turn them against each other and prevent a rebellion. All the while, controlling the food supply to force the people into dependency, and terrifying the populace with frightening tales of the Birmbas: mutated man-eating gorilla/black bear creatures who terrorize the forests beyond the village walls.
But when Leora discovers a captured Birmba cub, and finds out they're not as 'horrible' as the corrupted government might like to believe, can she survive the jungle outside of civilization, reach safety with her Birmba friend, and keep hidden her secret, the illegal "defect" beneath her very own cloak? Will she find the answers she's been searching for, answers to the mysterious deaths of her father and older sister, many years past; answers to the strange inscribed locket she received as birthright; or even fathom the meaning of an island full of quite a diversity of young women, from all 15 villages, yet who share one, common goal: freedom?
Even more intriguingly, will the Hermit Thrush, a bird with a voice as sweet as a nightingale's, not heard since before the disaster, decades ago, ever sing again?
I LOVED this book, and would recommend its splendor to any reader, however young or old!! Those who love to wonder of might be will enjoy this mesmerizing tale!

I purchased this book for my 15 yo who described it as weird and juvenile. I am passing it on to my 13 yo to read, I think it is more suited for that age group!

There is a lot of honesty in this book, although it is sometimes covered up by too much effort to create a parallel world. Once you get past the jargon and the altered realities, you meet a girl who is different enough to be compelling. There are nice touches that made this book stand out for me: her mother is a hard-core military hero (which is different); her father is an alcoholic nutjob who lives in the attic; and the house comes with its very own immaterial servant who ends up nearly stealing our heroine's life force. It could almost be a metaphor of not giving ones self away to easily to please others, but I think I was reading too much in to it. Fun, strange...that about sums it up.

There are a lot of incredibly sad things going on in Flora's world. For one thing her very name, Flora Segunda, refers to the fact that she is the second Flora born to her parents, the first being lost in the war when her and her father were taken hostage by the Huitzil soldiers. Her father spent three years as a prisoner of war, and when he returned his spirits were broken and he now putters around the house a rampant alcoholic who cannot forget the past, nor forgive himself for it. Her mother is the Warlord's Commanding General, the rock of Califa she is called, and she is a workaholic who leaves all of the household responsibility on young Flora's shoulders. And that's a lot of work. In Crackpot hall, as in all grand houses, there is supposed to be a butler to maintain the 11,000 space-shifting rooms but her mother banished him for misdeeds before Flora was born, so now it's Flora's responsibility. Added to that she has the upcoming pressures of her Catorcena speech, her coming-into-the-age-of-maturity ceremony, and that means she won't be able to pursue her dream, to be trained as a Ranger like her idol, Nini Mo.

Things start to look up at Crackpot hall when an overdue library book and a rogue elevator introduce Flora to Valefor, the young magical Denizen who resides in the house as its butler, or rather, former butler as he no longer has the strength to do any real work. At first his appearance is strange to Flora until he acquires some of his rather unique nourishment... the anima breathe from Flora, which he steals in the form of kisses. Then he proves to be a very handsome, and purple, young man. Now Flora can concentrate on other activities while Valefor surreptitiously does the household chores; like spending time with her best friend, Udo (a foppish young dandy who I also suspect to be a bit of a whoopsie), while they try to break Udo's idol (one Dainty Pirate) out of jail just before his scheduled death sentence... Sentenced by Flora's mother, of course... before Flora disappears.

I was amazed and astounded by Wilce's ability to compel the reader. Not only does she have the knack at writing characters that are really interesting, but she has impeccable dialogue and intriguing plotlines that add a freshness to what could be an old hat tale. It reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones, but not in plagiarism kind of way. I adored this. I am buying a copy for everyone I know. It's superb... sublime... splendiferous even!

This enjoyable book includes fantasy, magic, and eccentric, but loveable characters that are very real and that the reader cares about. I didn't want the book to end. This novel defies classification. I thought it would be another "Gormenghast" (it isn't) or a picaresque comedy like "Tristam Shandy" (it's not). It is a young adult novel, as the plot centers around a couple of teens struggling to grow up in trying circumstances. But unlike many YA books, it doesn't talk down to kids and displays a large and varied vocabulary. And sometimes (not always) the teens are wiser than the adults. The audience for this novel isn't limited to teen readers. I'm not young, but I really enjoyed the book. I can't wait for the next book, which I understand will be published in a few months.

Ysabeau Wilce (pronounced Iz-a-bow Wils) has entered the literary scene with a genre-blending and rule-bending story she likes to call Flora Segunda, Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), A House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and A Red Dog. This tongue-twister of a title is just as fun to say as supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and the story is more fun than a barrel of monkeys . . . unless the monkeys are wearing fashionable clothes, diving into their family's past, learning about their country's military pathways, and attempting to figure out the intentions of a ghostly genie-esque butler, in which case, those monkeys are more than ready to party with the likes of Flora.

The title character, Flora Segunda, is sometimes naive but always spunky. When she finds a mysterious, forgotten room in her gigantic home, she also finds a magical butler who is stuck there. He charms her and begs her for help. This sends Flora on a journey full of twists and turns, mixed with magic, politics, and family secrets.

I recommend this inventive book to adults who like the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, as it similarly combines elements of history, comedy, and fantasy, and to kids and teens who like to explore new worlds.

A long time fan of Joanna Brady, Outlaw Mountain was a disappointment. Brutal murder, that is solved much to soon while Joanna's personal life takes center stage. Don't we all wish life were easy to deal with as Joanna finds happiness while gaining job confidence and respect of her colleagues.
Good light reading while waiting at the airport for a delayed flight, but not up to the complexity of the usual J.A. Jance mystery.
Writing as a Small BusinessSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County Novel

Filled with suspense and twists and turns. I also enjoy the way in which Jance brings in the personal day to day life of the Brady and her family. Just enough soap opera without going over the edge.

J.A. Jance's novel, Outlaw Mountain, is one of the worst books i have read in years. Her characters and their dialogue, both inward and spoken, are completely unbelievable. The storyline is convoluted and riddled with useless drama which is completely unnecessary for the plot. The fact that I was able to finish this book was an act of pure discipline. I am a worse person just for having consumed this book. I would advise anyone who is considering purchasing or reading this book to save their time and money.

This is an unusual mystery. It starts off with an interesting murder, then drags on for a long time. Meanwhile, we slug along through seemingly unconnected events, until finally things begin to focus. I wanted it all to build to a great climax, but it best scene (Joanna vs. the killer) occurred too early, leaving Ms Jance a few more chapters to tie up the other loose ends, such as the missing husband and Junior. There was a lot of good story within this book. Perhaps if it was packaged better, it could be a solid 4 or 5 star mystery, but it has a bit too much soap opera within it. Like all Brady books, it was a pleasant and fast read, however. After reading several of them, though, I still can't figure out the source of antagonism between Joanna and Eleanor.

Outlaw Mountain continues the story of Joanna Brady, sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona. I have to admit that I've read all seven books in this series and it continues to be one of my favorites. The characters are well developed, plots are well thought out, and the books are just plain fun and exciting. Another plus, at least for me, is that the main character of Joanna Brady is not perfect - she's a struggling, working mother who goes through so much that is familiar territory for the rest of us, it makes her character very believable and identifiable.

As always in this series, we are once again taken to Bisbee, Arizona in Cochise County. For those that are unfamiliar with the Arizona region, Bisbee is an old mining town that's within driving distance to Tucson. The background and details given on this small town, from the surrounding landscape down to details about the Copper Queen Hotel has made it intriguing to the point that I want to vacation there - I have to see this area first hand! The fact that J.A. Jance can encourage this type of "want" is testimony to her fantastic ability as a writer.

Jance captures the reading audience from the very beginning with the murder of an elderly woman in a gruesome manner. Now don't get me wrong, most murders are gruesome, but the details that Jance uses make it so - the details aren't gory or bloody, but they do leave a lasting impression on the reader. This is a perfect example - before Alice Rogers is killed, she is chased into a grove of Cholla cactus and pushed into them. These cacti have long needles that are very painful when they come into contact with humans, this I know from personal experience - my hand felt like it was on fire for hours. This is the gruesome detail that I mentioned previously.

Joanna Brady now must not only find out who killed Alice, but also why this person wanted her to suffer so horribly. This investigation leads us through many interesting developments with new characters and old alike. The subplots are interwoven into the main story line with such precision that at times you don't realize it's not part of the big picture. We see the relationship between Butch and Joanna take on new meaning, we see more into the relationship between Joanna and her mother, we even see more into Dick Voland - a chief deputy working under Joanna.

The killer didn't come as a surprise to me (maybe I read far too many mysteries to be fooled anymore), even the illness reeking havoc with Marianne Mulcayea (Joanna's long time friend and local minister) was not an unknown idea to me. Even so, there was never a dull moment while reading Outlaw Mountain. In fact, I haven't found one book in this series that I haven't absolutely loved and I encourage everyone to read them! I do suggest that you begin with Desert Heat, the first in the set and continue in order. It's not mandatory to understand each new book, but it will help you to feel as if you're part of the story and somehow fit in with Joanna Brady and her group of friends and family.

Now for the negative - yes, I actually found a negative with this book! It's a first: J.A. Jance actually made a mistake in this one. She referred to Arizona Game and Fish as Arizona Fish and Wildlife. Ok, so it's not a huge mistake, and I am nitpicking, but it is an error. I haven't ever found a blunder in any of her books - either major or insignificant - until now. It was almost like getting two surprises in a box of Cracker Jacks - it didn't change the flavor, I just knew it wasn't right. If this is the only inaccuracy made by Jance in this series, you can see why this type of research combined with incredible plots, strong characters and great development are what makes these books hit the bestseller list every time!

Erewhon, like Butler's other (magnificient and far more effective) novel The Way of All Flesh, is rife with social satire. The optimistic and devout explorer trots out all kinds of European imperialist platitudes and, as with most satirical characters, is almost totally one-dimensional. Most other characters- noble savages, squaws, and other racist or bigoted archetypes, are fodder for the author's wit more than flesh and blood. This would be fine if the satire were as proficient as, say, Voltaire's, but it is not.

As others have mentioned, the "justice" system in Erewhon whereby the sick are punished and criminals rehabilitated to health is the main punchline. In a short story this concept would have been brilliant but the length of the book grinds the joke into the ground well before the narrative draws to a close. It's a joke with a punchline that doesn't justify the extravagant buildup.

A novel similar in concept to "Gulliver's Travels", this novel leads us to the unexplored country, for Europeans anyway, of Erewhon. Through the eyes of the unnamed English protagonist, Erewhon serves as a satire to the Victorian society in existence when this book was penned. Erewhon delivers harsh criticisms of certain valued institutions, yet it lacks the pertinence and timelessness of a truly great novel.

Granted, "Erewhon" was written in the 1870s, at the height of Victorian society in England. The protagonist wanders into the undiscovered country of Erewhon, which at first glance seems to be a utopia. However, the true nature of Erewhon is revealed, where a set of perverse and absurd laws govern the citizens and keep then in a static state of existence. Illnesses are crimes, whereas "moral" sins (such as embezzlement) are treated sympathetically as a sickness. Although they had been technologically advanced, all "modern" (think steam engines) machinery has been outlawed lest the machines will evolve and eventually rule the world, a la "The Matrix."

Butler leads the reader into an alternate vision of reality in his land of Erewhon. The Church of England and religion in general are ridiculed by the Erewhonians beliefs, or lack of, in their own deities. The idea of imperialism and colonization for the benefits of the natives is rendered absurd, as the protagonist dreams of enslaving the Erewhonians to a "religious" sugar plantation owner for their own good (at least, I hope Butler was not serious). The aristocracy and treatment of the poor are indirectly ridiculed in the Erewhonian emphasis on aesthetics and wealth above all else. Vegetarians are satirized in a prophet's misguided treatise on how animals are similar to people. The anti-machinists and anti-progress activists are dealt a blow in the rambling, non-sensical diatribe on the diabolical humanization of machines. In addition, higher education is criticized as a bastion of singular thought where original ideas are discouraged and pompous professors profess to know everything (some things never change).

Unfortunately, many of the criticisms are too obsolete for the modern reader. A central parody, the "Musical Banks", refers to an outdated process of money-changing in the English church, a reference sure to allude most readers (I needed to research it myself to see what the #@*&! Butler was alluding to). The idea that the Erewhonians are the "lost tribes" of Israel also seems to repute logic, as this country is presumably in New Zealand. The last third of the book, save the conclusion, contains a lengthy treatise on the anti-machine movement, followed by another on animals, and then plants. The anti-machine essay, in particular, is convoluted, contrived, and seems to never end, a sleep inducer if there ever was one.

"Erewhon" certainly would have been provocative and controversial in the era it was written. However, it has lost some potency over time. Yet, if you can gloss over the "Book of Machines" chapters, then "Erewhon" provides a delightful and
light-hearted look into the window of the Victorian mindset and one author's attempt to bring awareness of the ills of his society.

'Erewhon' has all the makings of a great book. Written during the stifling Victorian era, 'Erewhon' is about a fictitious land where society and government behave in ways counter to (the then) modern thinking. For example, machinery of nearly all form is viewed with contempt. And being physically sick is a criminal offense. Etcetera, etcetera. Too bad this 'Brave New World' predecessor wasn't produced by a more a capable writer.

So what is wrong with 'Erewhon'? For starters, almost no effort is spent on character development. The leading character, who narrates 'Erewhon', is a young British man .. and that's the extent we know of him. And there is scant plot development. After our young Brit finds himself in Erewhon he really doesn't do much other than lecture the reader on the odd Erewhonian customs. After a short while it gets a bit boring. Mercifully, 'Erewhon' is a short novel.


Bottom line: its creative premise is wasted by poor writing. A miss.

Originally published in 1872 and now billed as the "second great satire of the nineteenth century," Erewhon is a critique of Victorian society. In it, a British man comes across a never-before discovered society (which he is convinced is the lost tribes of Israel).

Erewhon has no plot to speak of. Here is its pattern: Butler gives us a bizarre scenario that seemingly makes no sense, takes us through it, and finally explains its parallel to Victorian life. Then this repeats. This is the whole book, book-ended by forty pages of setup (most of which is unnecessary) and a convenient and tidy ending. As such, the reader may feel like he is reading a work on nonsense philosophy rather than a work of fiction.

This is not to say that there is nothing worthwhile here. Occasionally, there are flashes of brilliance, and there are some thought-provoking elements. Erewhonians, for example, treat the sick like criminals and treat criminals like they have diseases. In a modern-day version, perhaps, those who have self-inflicted poor health, like some of the obese and diabetic, would be considered criminal.

On the whole, working through the philosophical meanderings of Butler's scenarios is tedious. It certainly does not help that many aspects of Victorian society are now foreign to us. Erewhon hasn't held up. Stick with Swift.

NOT RECOMMENDED

I bought this book expecting strait social satire. It turns out that the first five chapters are more of an adventure story through a jungle, and are really quite boring. If I could re-edit the book today I would cut them out. When we finally enter Erewhon, the story and the satire pick up, and the read is much more pleasant. Then, unexpectedly, about two-thirds of the way into the book, it becomes a very interesting science fiction tale of why the Erewhonians abandoned technology for fear that the machines would evolve into intelligent, conscious, thinking machines able to reproduce and replace man at the top of the evelutionary ladder! I was pleasantly surprised by this because science fiction is my favorite genre, and in all my reading I've never heard of this concept being thought of more than 130 years ago!

If you can get through the first five chapters, I recommend this book.

Thanks to Wrox Publishing, I was able to change careers and become a very competent software developer. The two or three books I used in the process were excellent. Now I'm trying to update my skills, and I automatically turned to Wrox again. Unfortunately, I'm not as enthusiastic this time around.

"Beginning ASP.NET with C#" has several problems. This book was written by thirteen different authors, and you can tell. Entirely new syntax and programming code are commonly thrown into "Try It Out" code examples without explanation (remember this is a beginners' book). Explanations and code examples are full of mistakes and inconsistencies. Such mistakes are not unusual for a Wrox book, but I never minded before because the Wrox website maintained an up-to-date errata page for each book. While an errata page exists for this book, it only addresses a small percentage of the errors contained in the book. Especially frustrating are the review exercises which frequently require knowledge not provided.

The writing style of Wrox beginning books always sets them apart. The authors and editors usually find a way to make the information accessible. This book is no exception. I'm just sorry to report that it was poorly edited for consistency and errors.

Firstly if you own this books predecessor (Beginning ASP.NET using C#) then you don't need this book. The two books are practically identical. The only real difference is that this version includes a security chapter in place of the three appendix sections included in the previous version. There are some minor differences in many of the code explanations but I actually found these slight changes confused the issue as opposed to improve it. To be honest I don't see how Wrox Press can justify the different authors on the cover of this version, it really is 95% identical to it's predecessor, I get the impression this was a tactic to fool the customer into thinking it is a totally different book. They told me the two books were different and that I should buy the latest version, I did, they aren't, and I feel deliberately cheated.

The book itself has many problems, and it's difficult to know where to begin. First there are bundles and bundles of errors, far more than documented by Wrox (as usual). Interestingly many of the errors in this version existed in the previous version, so clearly Wrox quality control (if it exists) failed not once, but twice to identify these errors; that's inexcusable. The errors aren't just in the code, or in the explanations, but they are also in the author's knowledge of .NET. For example, they claim shared members can be accessed from instances of a class as well as the class itself, this isn't the case in C#. You can only access shared members via a class, and not an instance. This error is repeated several times, they even make a special point of it for you to note; very embarrassing. Also, there are times when examples don't work, as important information has been left out (writing to an event log springs to mind). The book is disjointed, you get a code example and then you're told an explanation won't be provided at that point as it is covered later in the book, so you end up jumping back and forth, this occurs far to often for comfort. You're also left hanging time and time again as crucial information is left out.

Although this book does attempt to teach C#, the coverage is a bit limited, and in some areas examples are clearly required but are lacking. As another reviewer suggested, it would be better to know C# before using this book, alternatively you may get by if you have a good C# book to hand to help you through (as I did).

Although there are questions at the end of most chapters, there are only answers to about 5 chapters available from Wrox, the answers to the questions for all the other chapters don't exist.

Another big problem is that examples lead you through a mish-mash of classes with no explanations on what the classes are or what they do; no single class within the entire .NET Framework Class Library is covered properly, many are used but not given any mention. The coverage for the classes, that are mentioned in the explanations, is always grossly incomplete. I found that time and time again I had to go to the .NET documentation to find out what the book was leaving out, I honestly spent far more time in the documentation than using the book, as the book kept raising so many questions. Just remember that for each method or property covered there are 20 times that much not covered for that class.

Chapter 14 on server controls tried to get you to run before you could walk (actually it was more sprint before you could crawl), you'll spend hours in the .NET documentation trying to work out the final two big examples in this chapter, what a mess!!! For me this was the worse chapter in the book. For a beginner you need to show small examples, covering the concepts first, before showing a big example, well this chapter skips smaller examples and just chucks two huge and exceptionally poorly explained ones at you. This is really the most idiotic approach when dealing with a beginner.

None of the form controls were covered properly. For instance they give you a small grossly incomplete list of attributes for the label control and then just say the other controls generally use the same ones. When you go to the .NET documentation you find that each form control has a huge volume of very useful attributes you really should know about, they should have made an effort to cover form controls properly.

The different writing styles of the authors does cause confusion, you also realise that some authors aren't as sure of their coding as others. For instance for a Page_Load event some authors include the object and EventArgs parameters but others don't. As a beginner I was wondering if there was a reason why, and which way was correct, but of course you're not told as it's just the authors own style. Wrox should have picked up on the glaringly obvious like this, but unsurprisingly, failed to do so.

Operator overloads has exceptionally poor coverage, no working examples. I actually got the impression the author didn't really know it that well. Chapter 9, which covers 'shared members and class relationships' is pretty poor as well, this is a very important and powerful area of .NET and the author didn't know how to convey this information at all. The examples are useless, the author even states things like 'this example is way off perfection', and, after giving an example that isn't actually the way you should do something would state, 'what we ought to have done'. It leaves you not knowing when you should apply a particular concept or even if you applied it correctly. I could go on and on about the failings in this book, there really are so many issues to raise, but I won't completely bore you.

So much is left out of this book that was required, and would have taken very little effort to include. Unfortunately being first to press seems to be more important to Wrox Press than quality. In all honestly the whole book feels more like an overview look at ASP.NET rather than a tutorial. Should you get this book you better download the .Net Framework SDK as you're really going to need it.

It amazes me that others have given this book such good reviews. The mind boggles as to how they approached this subject. Did they bother to research each class properly? Did they study this book thoroughly, or did they just read it like a novel? Did they actually try the examples bearing in mind many don't work? I never expected this book to have complete coverage, that would be silly, but I did expect the coverage to be much better than this. Ultimately all this book will succeed in doing is giving you a very basic foundation in ASP.NET, and a shaky one at that. The book should have been bigger and far more thorough. I gave the book two stars as opposed to none as you could argue, from time to time, that it might be the nature of the beast rather than the failure of it's authors. The book does have its good points but sadly they're hard to remember as the bad points stand out more.

Finally, when will Wrox Press wake up and release that 'to many cooks spoil the broth'?

By the time I reached chapter 10 of the book, I realized how many errors in the text and code the book contains. More over, you have to type all the examples in a text editor. Why didn't the book teach the Visual Studio Environment as it is a great and time saving tool for developing ASP.NET application which is the aim of the book. I think too many authors contributing to the book have made it so diverse from chapter to chapter, there is no consistency between what each one of them wrote.

I'm half way through this book (read for two days only since there are lots of contents on the first half i know about it already), so bear in mind that my review is just about the first half of the book.

Exactly like what the book says at the back, "if you know only html" but nothing else...., this should be a great book. However, I "personally" think if someone knows only a bit of html (probably used WYSIWYG tools for all his/her life), and then jumping directly into stuffs like, server-side language, loads of programming "concepts", .net vision, event-driven programming, xml, objects orientation and C#!!!... WOAH, it just seems WAY too much. (Maybe it's just my opinion).

The first half treats you entirely like a baby (yeah yeah, i know what the title is ... "beginning"...), explaining every single bit of code. The programming basics section mainly teaches you programming "concepts", something almost all programmers know already by instinct -- e.g. there's something call a "variable", an "array" and also becareful of writing infinite loops in do..while statements >.< It just doesn't feel like i'm learning ASP.NET or C# at all -- a super beginner's programming course with extra dose on programming-concepts and theories. If you're already a programmer, don't expect you can get any new tips or tricks.

Okay, what else.. I haven't learnt anything really useful and exciting to say about yet. It's all the basics with very simple examples -- first showing you the entire code, then a screenshot of the output, breaking the code into pieces explaining. That worked quite well...

So far i'd spotted only a few typos, with only one which really matters cause it's a typo on the code example. ahh, last thing.. i found it extremely annoying when it says, "we'll see a bit more on the next chapter; we'll see a bit more later on..." You WILL see that once in 2 or 3 pages (approx of course but more than enough to drive me insane, just cant stress more). I can fill out a long check-list form -- remembering to expect this this this on chapter what what what, after some xxx pages.

anyways, hope this helps. Happy programming =)

Not having written code in 6 years, this book was the perfect coding refresher and ASP.NET primer. After sifted through a dozen titles, I finally settled down and worked through this ASP.NET text cover to cover. It was the only book that didn't have gaps in explaning fundamental concepts and C# syntax.

As someone who programmed in java a lifetime ago and who has not had much web development experience, this book was perfect. In other books, authors often skipped fundamental concepts that are not obvious to novice web developers. Despite the slew of authors, this book manages to stay cohesive and anticipate newbie questions. At times the book is pedantic to people who can code. But that's the price you pay for completeness.

The general approach of the books is to focus on funcationality. You start with small applicable concepts and work towards the greater understanding. For some people, this will be unsatisfying because you don't get to the more powerful aspects of ASP.NET until later in the book (ex: code-behind and the separation of the data, logic, and presentation layers is not explained until the final chapters, whereas this topic is dealt with early on in most other books). But I found the approach effective.

Conclusion: if you don't mind a refresher on coding (e.g. re-learning how hash tables work or 'value vs ref passing'), you have little web dev experience beyond playing with HTML, and you know nothing about ASP.NET, this is the best book on the market! The book stays focused on core topics and leaves the bells & whistles of ASP.NET to other books. You can work straight through and develop the understanding you need to build ASP.NET pages.

The last novel in her Patternist series to be published, it shares a lot more in common with her Xenogenesis trilogy in tone and subject material. Of the Patternist novels that I have read, that group seems more oriented towards questions of power and dominance--basically, who is stronger, and what are the responsibilities of that role. The series actually begins with Wild Seed, which explains the character of Doro, who then sees a success in his human breeding program in Mind of My Mind. Clay's Ark is next in the timeline, but it only refers obliquely to the existence of a psionic pattern (late in the novel, it explains the macguffin for the faster than light drive used by the spaceship that returns to Earth), but it mainly concerns the alien organism that creates the Clayarks. The next book, Patternmaster, shows these two groups--the Patternists and the Clayarks--millennia later, both almost unrecognizable as human.

It is this evolution away from humanity that becomes the main theme of Xenogenesis, but it is in the forefront of Clay's Ark. The difference, however, is that this evolution is almost entirely negative here, whereas in Xenogenesis there's an ambiguity to it that makes it much more complex than just a good/bad issue. Change happens (to quote Butler's more recent work). Why is it negative here in Clay's Ark? Because of the mindlessness of the extraterrestrial interaction. As humans, thinking and feeling humans, we see ourselves as ratiocentric--that is, we value the power of logic and rational thought and discount the so-called "animal" urges of instinct and biological compulsion. This dichotomy makes up the conflict between the two groups in Patternmaster: the Patternists are pure thought, ruled by the power of the mind, whereas the Clayarks are all biological urges, roaming free, living life in the here and now. The human race has bifurcated, and although a "mute" semblance remains, humans are portrayed as beings where both mind and body are weak and dull. In Xenogenesis, Butler changes this, and the organism that is entirely mutable is portrayed as the strongest.

Because it contains a lot of adventure--there's kidnapping and close escapes and gunfire and more violence than a Fox Saturday night-- Clay's Ark hides a lot of this underlying thought. Only the struggle that Eli continues to endure breaks this action-orientation; the rest of the characters are driven either by the disease or their human nature to respond to the events. While not as hopeful or thoughtful as her later work, I liked this one tremendously.

Clay's Ark is fittingly the final volume in Octavia Butler's Patternist series. While in the chronological order Clay's Ark would be third, its proper place in the reading order is that of the publication order: fifth. Some may find it preferable to read the Patternist novels chronologically, but this would be something of a mistake.

Patternmaster, the first published and last in the timeline, sets up our world as it will be in thousands of years. Technology has all but disappeared and there are telepaths ruling from households and controlling mutes, those humans without telepathic power. A third group are the clayarks, disease-ridden once humans who are disgustingly deformed and are feared and hunted. This brings us to Mind of My Mind where we see a world not too different than the one in which we now live, only the telepaths are only just beginning to take control. Next is the forgettable and all but disowned by Butler Survivor. The clayark disease has ravaged the Earth and one last group is permitted to settle a different planet. It ties into the Patternist world, but only from a tangent. Wild Seed gives us the origins of Doro, he who had the breeding program to develop the telepaths.

This brings us to the final novel in the Patternist sequence: Clay's Ark. Now, if we had not read Patternmaster we would have no idea what the clayarks are to become or what what the significance of the title Clay's Ark actually is. The title itself rewards readers of the series while it sets of warning bells about the content of the novel. If we are reading in publication order we know that the clayarks came from some sort of extra terrestrial virus / entity and that they overran the land. We know that something bad is coming and that this novel is likely to show us how it happened.

Clay's Ark tells two stories: Past and Present. Past features an initially unnamed man who is human, but is struggling against some alien nature. He came from a space ship which crashed back on Earth after being gone for years. The ship: Clay's Ark. The unnamed man has heightened senses which most humans never use and he feels an urgency to be near other humans, to touch them, to scratch them...to infect them. He knows it is wrong, he knows that it would be very, very bad, but the disease he has leaves him no choice.

Present tells a different story. A man (Dr. Blake Maslin) is driving across the southern California desert with his two daughters (the leukemia stricken Keira, and Rane) when they are all kidnapped while at a rest stop during a sandstorm. They are not killed, raped, ransomed, robbed, or tortured. They are brought to an isolated farm and forced to stay while Eli, the nominal leader of a gang of sickly looking men and women with super strength, explains about the disease they all share and why they had to take the Maslins. One guess as to what the disease is.

Clay's Ark is a bleak, brutal novel filled with tension and danger. Octavia Butler is doing nothing more than telling us a story in which the world is a dangerous place and about to get worse. Clay's Ark is a harrowing novel and except for several chapters at the farm, it feels like everyone is on the move trying to escape from something...from the disease, from the not yet named clayarks, from the regular humans who are just about as bad as the disease Eli's group carries. There is very little joy in Clay's Ark, but Butler's storytelling is such that we don't want to look away. Clay's Ark is one of the stronger novels in the Patternist sequence (up there with Mind of My Mind and Wild Seed). Clay's Ark is perhaps the perfect way to wrap up the Patternist sequence. As with all of of Butler's novels we are left with questions as to what happens after the last page, but Butler has filled in as much of this world as needs to be.

While only one of Butler's early novels (Kindred) holds up to her later work, the Patternist sequence is comprised of five reasonably short (200 page) novels which at their best are quite entertaining. Octavia Butler is an author not to be missed.

-Joe Sherry

Compared to most other SF novels, Clay's Ark could be considered a great book. However, compared to other books by Butler, it falls short. Not because of craft. The book's pacing and plotting are near perfect; there are no wasted words. But while, it is extremely readable, the book suffers in it's characterisations. Here is where my initial remark comes into play. Compared to most SF, characters like Blake are extremely interesting, but compared to the characters Butler creates in her other Patternist novels 'Wild Seed' and 'Mind of my mind'.

The moral dilemmas facing the main characters are not as balanced as in Butler's other work. The survival instinct of the alien virus is so strong, that the characters are partially excused for their actions. In addition, the story builds magnificently, but wraps up abruptly.

Bottom line -- if you have never read an Octavia Butler novel start with 'Wild Seed' or 'Kindred', but if you are already a fan, there is enough in this book to make it enjoyable.

This might be the most suspenseful of the several novels I've read from Octavia Butler, but it comes up a little short on some of her key strengths. Granted, Butler's supremely unique imagination is still at play here, in the story of a space crew that comes back to Earth with an alien virus that uses human carriers like mere conduits for relentlessly propagating itself. Another mindbendingly creative concept from Butler, but unfortunately this novel comes out rather sour and ugly in the execution. The dysfunctional near-future society that is Butler's usual motif simply becomes a depressing mess here, with no redeeming humanity. We get almost uniformly violent and pitiless characters (except for the circle of protagonists) and a depressing, disturbing parade of human misery. Thus, the dystopian aspects of this tale are missing the elements that make similar settings so compelling in Butler's better novels – such as the African mythology backdrop to "Wild Seed" or the philosophical optimism of "Parable of the Sower." There is also a structural problem with this book, in that Butler alternates chapter-by-chapter between flashbacks and events in the present, and neither of these running narratives are told completely in chronological order. This is a non-linear technique that some writers have used successfully to reinforce their themes or the suspense of the story, but here it just slows down the effectiveness of Butler's ideas. I still enthusiastically recommend the works of Octavia Butler for all fans of thought-provoking and emotionally compelling speculative fiction, but this book doesn't quite stack up with her best. [~doomsdayer520~]

I was so enthralled by "Dawn" and the subsequent books in that trilogy that I set out to read everything I could by Butler. Overall I find her novels to be exceptional sci-fi with some very thought provoking anthropology and history thrown into the mix. I was disappointed in Clay's Ark, and I think it was primarily because, compared to Butler's other novels, it was the leanest. While she comments on the bleak direction the future of the U.S. is headed in, this tale did not stay with me or terrify me the way the "Parable" books did. I didn't feel as attached to these characters as I did to their parallel counterparts in the Patternmaster. It's an interesting story, but not Butler at her best. If you're as obsesseive as I am about my favorite authors, read it anyway! If you're new to Butler, start with Parable of the Sower or Dawn.

First I want to say that I didn't particularly like this book, but I gave it three stars anyway for a couple reasons:

1. It is an incredible piece of publishing. The book is beautiful, and of truly superior quality. In this regard alone it lives up to its satanic idealism.

2. The Satanic Wedding is included in the book. This is a piece of work that I've long been interested in reading. It stood out in its absence in the "Satanic Rituals," so I'm glad to have finally had an opportunity to read it.

3. It isn't terrible. In fact, if I hadn't read Lavey, I'd probably think more highly of this work.

But now for the negatives:

1. Editing. I was very disappointed to find typos and spelling errors in this book. It really detracted from the value of the book as a piece of art. This may sound nit-picky, but Satanists pride themselves on the superior quality of their work, and in this respect the High Priest failed to live up to the ideals of his Church.

2. Content. I understand that satanists don't like the rest of the world in general, but come on, the High Priest is the highest ranking official in the Church, and it seems to me, for an individualist, a self-proclaimed egoist, he spends far too long complaining about the stupidity of other people. All of the pieces did not re-hash this tired subject, but unfortunately, most of them did.

3. Content. In the second respect, I found it surprising that so much of the book was spent defining what a satanist "is," or believes. Satanists are individuals, why do they need another book telling them what they are? I understand the necessity of Lavey's codification of satanism because he was the first to do it, the original black-pope, and so he had to bring satanism to the awareness of the world at large in order to reach those select few he desired to welcome into his life and his Church. But those books have been written, and I don't see that the new High Priest really added much of value to Lavey's work. This in itself would not be a bad thing, except I continually felt like I was reading someone who was trying to fill Lavey's shoes rather than making his own mark on the Church and it's literature.

Having said that, however, there were some pieces that stood out, pieces that really did make an impression. These were the instances where Mr. Gilmore was being Mr. Gilmore. When he wrote about things he loved, and about issues that did need and up-to-date comment from the High Priest of the Church of Satan. In these instances, Gilmore shined. But sadly they were few and far between.

But I believe that the work deserves it's three stars, even if there were typos (shame on you Mr. Gilmore). And I don't have a more beautiful book on my shelves, I can assure you of that.

Gilmore includes a good selection of essays from the third perspective for three quarters of the book. The final bit includes the rituals for a marriage; funeral and one called the Rite of Ragnarok. While I agree with Mr. Gilmore's selections of Classical music I was also introduced to a few composers to which I've not had the pleasure of listening. What should be of interest here to the historian would be the articles related to the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980's and the Reaction to 9/11/2001.

I had high expectations for this book and was particularly salivatig once I saw it could be preordered direct from scapegoat publishing
Before penning my own review, I read others so as not to do a paltry retread
Dr LaVey has been quoted as saying "Satanism demands study, not worship!" which applies here quite frequently
As a word of caution, those already familliar with High Priest Gilmore's essays as they appeared in other places may be disappointed, however, I was not. The "Satanists are facists" accusation is debunked in "The Facism Question" and three rites are included to round out the volume.
Much like "The Satanic Bible" there is practical knowledge to be applied as well as The writer's personal tastes.
For those that see Satanism as irrevocably linked to Heavy Metal, there are truly Diabolcal suprises within. As a personal note, no two Satanists are totally alike, just as no two trees are alike. Satanists live and believe in what suits THE SELF best, so long as it is legal, the only common thread being LaVey's "Satanic Bible" which others are quick to descredit as there are no demons lurking within the pages, just reality
In summation, this is not a tree of Forbidden Knowledge, but rather A sumptuious five course meal, or a Satanic Philharmonic Symphony
Hail undefiled wisdom
Hail Gilmore!
Hail Satan!
As an addendum, those not Famillar with Peter Gilmore and Satanism should see "The Satanic Bible" By the late Anton LaVey as well as Lavey's essay collections "Satan Speaks" and "the Devil's Notebook"

Just a word of warning to the average curosity seeker who wants to find out about satan,this book is not satanic at all this is by a satanist from the church of satan also known as lavey satanism which is not satanism at all its just atheism in other words they dont see satan as a real enity,and just use the symbolism of satan to garner atention for there atheist organization,if you are an athiest you do not need a church of anything just go about your life dont waste your money .Dont be fooled by the title avoid

This is more of an snubbed nosed atheist club that does not even believe in any kind of devil-sooo...why the rituals and the rediculous costumes?
If you want to waste your money joining an atheist club for $200-go for it!

I'm chemical Engineer and I'm working on my thesis on to get the Master in Sc. I had no clue in VaR, this book help not only to understand it but to apply it further pure finances.

This book would have been 5 stars if it had been edited and proofed properly. There are *FAR* too many errors. I would still recommend that one purchase and read this book, which is a good introduction to VaR for the uninitiated, but the error count is just ridiculous. There are significant errors nearly every other page.

There are:

* currency sign errors, which render examples meaningless;
* repeated formula errors, which require the reader to guess the correct formula;
* text errors, which change the meaning of the sentences to their exact opposite;
* errors in punctuation;
* errors in grammar;
* numerical errors in the text next to examples that show the correct numbers.

If there were going to have been a second edition, it would already be out by now, so I'm not hopeful that a new edition will appear to correct the many errors.

I am QUITE surprised that the author doesn't have an errata page at the website he put up for questions on this book at [...]

File this book under "Failed Potential".

The other reviewers are correct about the errors. The results of Mr. Butler's formulas sometimes don't match the formulas themselves which in turn don't match his results in the spreadsheets. Also, the grammar, particularly the punctuation, leaves much to be desired. This book had either a poor editor or no editor.

However, Mr. Butler is the only author to write a book that shows actual real-world VaR calculations. The other books give plenty of theory, but never enough detail to enable you to do your own VaR calculations. So until something similar and better comes along, this book will have to do. And really, the errors in the spreadsheets are not that hard to spot if you just follow the text and if you are aware that the errors are there.

There are a number of errors in the book, thus making it very hard to get through. Additionally, I spoke to the publisher and there is NOT a second edition of this book available yet - so don't bother with the book. I was also surprised there is nowhere to get copies of the spreadsheets from on the web!!

A note to Mr. Butler - please take a note from Scott Meyers or Bruce Eckel who publish errata web pages.

Mastering Value at Risk is 80% practical and 20% theoretical. However, there are a lot of mistakes, specially printing and calculation mistakes. For example, page 24, 25, etc. ambiguous exercises. I require professional solved cases and applications of the real world. Back testing and stress testing themes present a poor development.

There is a great practical case on EWMA, but it can not be compared to GARCH model, because there is not a practical case on GARCH. There is no useful application. This model is only mentioned and explained theoretically. On the other hand Montecarlo Simulation presents a certain confusion. It's unclear and imprecise.

Finally, at the end of the book an address and e-mail are written in order to make contact with the author, but such an e-mail doesn't exist. It was impossible for me to contact Cormac Butler by means of that e-mail. Besides, there is a website in order to send your questions and queries named answerback.org. It was not possible for me to access this website.

Well, the book is good for a reader used to calculate VaR, not for beginners, because of printing errors and calculation mistakes. You must to identify them before to continue the next lesson and theme. Well, my rating to this book is 3 stars.

As others have noted, the book has some problems in the editing and is kind of oddly structured in general. Quotations come and go and the photos are all b/w and grainy, not unlike an old fanzine.

Otherwise it's quite astonishing in it's detail and some of the stories are priceless. I found the Ian Gillan era stuff especially amusing. I also had no idea the band went through so many drummers! It was surprising to find so much solo Ozzy band history as well.

A lot to read and generally very fun.

I'm simply astonished by the sheer amount pf information contained in this book. Dont'get it wrong: this is a HUGE book, with A4 paper format, more than three hundred pages with two columns in each one. But, if you're into Black Sabbath and Ozzy, you will read it really fast.

The books gives detailed information about almost everything. It has good taste without relaying in useless gossip. This was one of most gratifying readings I've had in years. Highly recommended!

If you're looking for a comprehensive account of the comings and goings of singers and drummers during the 80's and 90's, this book is very interesting. It's extremely detailed. Much of the information seems to come from Geoff Nichols, the unheralded keyboardist (unheralded to the point where he was off the stage half the time) who was with Sabbath for more years than anyone but Tony and Geezer.

As a piece of writing, this is not the best. It tends to read like a very long high school term paper. There is little concept of flow and readability. Every incident is given equal weight no matter how important or how insignificant. It seems like the author literally took every bit of information at his disposal and put it here, leaving some situations underappreciated and some boringly overdeveloped.

As stated before, the editing and production are also pretty abysmal. I'm not trying to be overcritical here but, let's face it, this is something they want us to pay for. If this information was something I came across on a free website I would be a little more forgiving.

That being said, if you're going to buy this book you are, more likely than not, a big fan. You'll find something here to justify the purchase. Just don't expect to sit next to the fire with this one sipping chardonnay and eating bon bons to achieve literary orgasm. It's not gonna happen.

Everything you wanted to know about the history of Black Sabbath..and then some.The only criticism i have is that maybe it details just a little too deeply,but a good read and i learnt some things i didn't know before.

An excellent read for the most devoted of Sabbath fans. However, this is by far the worst editing I've ever seen of any publication in my entire life! Blatant mispellings & poor grammar abound.

AMERICAN'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS. . . is laugh aloud funny! It's a great book to pick up when you have only a short time to read! It was the perfect gift for my husband's birthday; good for me, too, as I read it over his shoulder.

Americas dumbest criminals is full of stupid laughter!It has a bunch of little stories put together in one book!One of my favorite ones is about a guy that goes into a bank and tries to rob it but the bank calls the police and the guy starts running away from the police but they still caught him because he was robbing the bank at night and he was wearing light up shoes so the police could see him running!

I never cease to be amazed by how stupid some people can be. These stories literally had me laughing so hard that I dropped the book on the floor. I've read several different collections about dumb criminals but this one is by far the best. This book had me cracking up. If you have not yet read this book, pick up a copy because it is well worth it!

Perhaps the problem is in the presentation. Stories like these are better told by a witty reporter than printed in a book. While many of the stories were entertaining, I felt like many of them fell flat. Some of the stories were mere coincidences that lacked humor. Others just did not seem to fit under the title of the book. An undercover cop suckering a drug dealer is only amusing so many times.

I did gain some enjoyment from this book. Because many of the stories are based in the Chicago area, the proximity made that stories more relevant to me. Aside from these stories, I could have lived without this book.

This book delivers what it promises, but I'm not sure that it promises anything special.

It is essentially a collection of humorous cop stories, told to the authors by policemen who, by dint of their occupation, always seem to have an amusing anecdote or two.

Most of the 100 stories are amusing, a few are very funny, and a fair number just fall flat. While browsing through this book is good for a chuckle, I think you could probably get the same exact chuckle by browsing through the internet for similar subject matter.

Even though this is a light-hearted book that is more concerned with entertaining the reader than making a statement, I still couldn't help but be bothered by the politics of the authors, and even more so by the brashness with which they assert those politics.

The introduction relates an anecdote about the authors trying to get the members of a police station to work with them. They explain to the police chief that they think that criminals are glorified in shows like COPS. I had to reread this to make sure I had understood it correctly. COPS glamorizes criminals? In my experience, COPS usually makes criminals look subhuman. Anyhow, the police chief agrees to work with the authors on the condition that they make the criminals look like "coldhearted dumbasses," and show the police force as being "professional at all times." I was shocked to hear that the authors were basically agreeing to cover up any professional misconduct they encountered, and to make the criminals look as bad as possible. And they were bragging about this bargain in the introduction!

Looked at in this light, some of the stories seem a little sinister. The last one in the book tells about an escaped convict who was attempting to hide from a search party. The convict mistakenly thinks he is backing into a hog-shed, when in reality he is backing through a single wall, and the surrounding policemen come up on his rear end poking into the air, with the convict apparently thinking he is hidden from view. There's a quote from a cop that says they "didn't know whether to turn the dogs loose on him, read him his rights, or just give him a good swift kick." Supposedly, they read him his rights, but given the deal that the authors made in the beginning, why should the reader assume that the man wasn't subjected to either of the other two (highly illegal) options?

This is just one of many examples of the "punchline" being that an apprehended suspect gets physically hurt in some way. In one case, after a man (nonviolent offender) is taken into custody and handcuffed, a couple of dogs attack him, biting him several times before the arresting officer could drive the dogs off. The authors write that this is a stellar example of taking a bite out of crime. Har he har har!

Joking about physically abusing a prisoner just isn't that funny to me, and it would be even less funny to the people who are facing long jail terms as a result of their crimes. Just because a person has been convicted of a crime and is paying the price doesn't mean that they deserve our ridicule, especially not mean-spirited ridicule that is specifically designed to make them look like coldhearted dumbasses.

Those political objections aside, this book is somewhat amusing to flip through, but as I said, you could find the same type of material on the web for free.