Carey Books

My family has enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter audio books for several years. Jim Dale's readings include a host of characters with remarkably distinctive voices that carry over from the first book, the Sorcerer's Stone, to the last. He reads with fabulous energy and makes these great stories come to life like nothing I've ever heard before.
The Prisoner of Azkaban is no exception. This audiobook is a fabulous way to enjoy several afternoon in the car or in your favorite chair at home.

A fellow Potter fan pointed out that this book was longer than "Chamber"
My bad.
I must have been confusing the movies. DOH!!!
I blame it on age. :)
As for the book, ahem....
In short, it's brilliant.
All the action and drama of the first two with twists and turns that made it almost impossible to put down.
The Prisoner of Azkaban further advanced the series with slightly more mature themes and an absolutely haunting atmosphere.
This book solidified the series as a force to be reckoned with.
Same as the previous two, highly recommended.

Like the first two Harry Potter books this book is great, it is in this book that parents should beware; it starts to have a few more moments that might scare the younger reader, it takes on a darker side as Harry ages and Voldemort begins to gain his power back, Definately makes you want to continue to read the complete set, this is my second time thru the books and I never tire of reading them. Great Reading for all ages

I liked, is in good condition,parece nuevo, a mi sobrina le encanto thank you !!!! por tener todos estos tipos de libros.

It's a great story, with much more detail and interest than the movie that was based on it. Jim Dale's performance is excellent and really brings life to the characters.

I took off one star because one of the disks was scratched & Amazon cowered behind their policy that they would not allow an exchange of an audio product that was opened.

It was a really good book.My favorite part was when she finally becomes friends with the indians.Although recommend it to older kids becuase of the violence.

INDIANS EVERY WERE





Catty gets kidnapped by Indians,
Thomas gets sick,
Will Catty marry Snow Hunter?



In the book, Standing in the Light Catty's family respects the Indians.
They leave their doors unlocked and windows open to show the Indians
They are not afraid. But one night the Indians swoop throw the window
And kidnap Catty and Thomas.

My favorite part is when Catty's Indian Grandmother tells her
Indian mother that Catty and snow hunter are probley going to get
Married. I like this part because it is sweet and unsuspecting and
Catty is so surprised

I think the authors main idea is you can go from HOME to HOME
And will always be loved.

I would recommend this because it is surprising and you won't want
To stop!!!!!
By:Lauren

I absolutly loved this book. It made my stomach have butterflies. It feels like you are actually in the book. It was interesting and sad. I almost cried for some parts. LOL I would recomend this book to any kid who loves excitement, and history.

I love reading books in diary form and the "Dear America" series of books for younger readers are not only beautifully bound, but each individual story is truly engaging, transporting readers into a bygone era with its entailing adventures.

The heroines are typically young girls who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances - and having to display immense courage in trying times. "Standing in the Light" is the diary of Catharine Carey Logan, a Quaker who lived in the Delaware Valley in Pennsylvania c 1763. Her diary is an account of her experiences growing up in the valley and also about her capture by the Lenape Indians. It is a sad yet very engrossing read.

Another highlight of the book is the author's historical note on life in America during the time [1763] - there are also illustrations and drawings of Quakers and Lenape Indians engaged in their respective pursuits, and highlights the cultural differences between the two groups. In conclusion - an engaging historical read!

Standing in the Light was an excellent book. Caty and her brother Thomas are kidnapped by the Lenape on their way home from school. At first Caty feels they'll be killed but instead they return to the Lenape village where she and her brother are separated and giving to two new families. This was the first time I'd ever heard of the Lenape and the author painted a vivid picture of what these Native Americans were like. I loved the transformation as Caty goes from fearing her captives, to loving them especially one in particular Snow Hunter.

This memoir is not just Barbara's, but is the story of everyone who has grown up in an alcoholic family. I could empathise with her trials, fears, anger and perceptions, and would often find myself nodding subconsciously as I read along. I felt I knew her well. Thank you so much for courageously sharing your story.

I could not put this book down! I got so caught up in this memoir, I couldn't wait to finish it. Then, when it was done I wished I hadn't read it in 4 days! It is filled with gut wrenching stories, sometimes so incredible it seems they can't be real. The part that takes place at Christmas was especially moving to me.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

a heart-wrenching true memoir that is almost unbelievable to imagine. how children can cope with the harshest

abuse,emotionally and physically, with a mother standing by silently shows what resilience the human spirit can endure. looking forward to the sequel"fierce"

I didn't know much about about this part of the United States..I have been reading more memoirs set there since I read this book.

Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter is a powerful and poignant story of impoverished life as experienced by Barbara Moss.

Surrounded by poverty, alcoholism, abuse, malnutrition and facial deformities, Moss could easily have allowed herself to be trapped in that negative world. Instead, through determination and the kindness of a few strangers along the way, she rose above adversity and has been able to escape the clutches of childhood demons.

In 1996, Moss won the Gold Medal for Personal Essay in the William Faulkner Creative Writing Contest. Her winning essay became the first chapter of Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter. Her life, her determination, and her writing acheivements serve as an inspiration to the aspiring writer in me.

When I first read this book, I was working through the emotional impact of having undergone facial surgery to remove a malignant melanoma and recreate a nose. At the time of that first reading, I was more tuned into the parts of Moss's story which dealt so poignantly with the emotional effects of her deformed face and people's unkind reactions to that deformity. Her drive to find a way to resolve the situation was nothing less than admirable. Now that I am a few years beyond my surgery and have re-read her story, I find her desire to become Zeus's daughter (the goddess of beauty) pales in comparison to the beautiful person who writes this remarkable story.

With grace and insight, Moss takes us back in time to a place where life seemed to surely be waging war against her. In what she calls an effort to heal wounds and reclaim her family, she writes of both the challenges and the triumphs of childhood, adolesence and adulthood. Throughout the story, Moss interjects memories of a humorous nature - proving that even in the most desparate of situations, it is possible to find joy.

In what can only be described as a "wise beyond her years" approach, the ninth grade Moss wrote a list of eight things she wanted to do to improve herself. At the top of the list were "1. Remove moles on face, 2. Get braces on teeth, 3. Fix face." It is incredible that one so young would seize such determination and not let go until she had accomplished these seemingly insurmountable goals. Shortly after writing these goals, she began to act upon them. Her book reveals the ways she accomplished them. With remarkable insight, Moss writes about how each achieved goal created both negative and positive issues for her.

Moss's writing talent is evident in this deeply personal and moving story. Her gift to her readers is the lesson of redemption and grace in the midst of life's biggest hurdles.

by Lee Ambrose
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Thank you, David Carey, for sharing your POW experiences. The description of how you and your fellow prisoners chose to spend your time and the attitude you had toward your situation are an excellent example of how we all make choices about how to deal with what comes up in our own lives.

This book is an interesting, easy and fun read. Carey is a great storyteller who makes you feel and understand what they lived through along with how they kept their sanity and dignity.

Great insights from a guy that's been there. Dave has an uncanny knack of applying his challenging POW experiences to our everyday lives. A solid read.

Dave was my roommate aboard USS ORISKANY prior to his capture in 1967. As a Naval Academy graduate and Naval Aviator he was assigned to an attack squadron flying the A-4 Skyhawk. I met Dave the day we departed NAS Alameda for deployment to Southeast Asia, and Vietnam. He had his fiance Karen aboard for a short time in the officer's wardroom for coffee and last minute good byes. The next time he saw Karen was 5.5 years later after his release from a North Vietnam prisoner of war camp. I saw him again at his wedding!

This is terrific read along with Zalin Grants "Over the Beach" about the war, it's history, and the toll it took on countless lives.

i thought i had lived through some tough times before reading Dave's story... if life has got you down, choose this book, you'll begin to feel you too can survive and excel even in the most demanding situations. Dave ties in his Vietnam experience to create powerful insights for daily living in part 2.
My advice... READ THIS BOOK!

"The Ways We Choose" is truly a lesson in life. While reading it I asked myself how I handle adversity. What do I do when life gets tough? As a prisoner of war for 5 1/2 years, Dave Carey feels that his experience can be used as an analogy for facing problems and changes in our own lives. Hopefully, none of us will have to endure the trauma of being a POW, however, Dave lists simple factors for his success in the harsh environment he was existing in. He believes that these guidelines can be directly translated into every life. He discusses the importance of communicating in every aspect of our daily life. The book has helped me to live "one day at a time." It also encouraged me to ask myself not only how I cope with the problems of life but more importantly, how do I CHOOSE to cope. Dave Carey's witness to his faith completes the message in this outstanding read. The author has a great gift of sharing himself with his readers. You won't want to miss this adventure in life.

All I can say is....Excellent book. It made a computer technician out of me. Tnx

If you are tired of all the PC how-to books that can't write a sentance in English, this is the book for you. Easy to follow with screenshots from the PC itself, this a guide even my mom can follow. It covers the basics of owning a computer from Windows 98 and SE, ME, and XP. How to keep them in tune and how to save some money doing it with free programs that are available online. What to take some of the mystery of the beige (black, grey, whatever) box on the desk, The Healthy PC will go long ways towards that end.

The first time I sat down with this book, I couldn't stop. I'm not a PC guru, nor am I a "tin horn." I think anyone who uses a computer from power users to novices will find it one of the most practical, easy to understand texts you'll find.

I also "googled" his name and found his website CareyHolzman.com. What a treasure trove of advice and help.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to use a computer or increase the knowledge they already have.

I absolutely love this book!!! I read about it here on Amazon and ordered it right away. I have been reading through it and using it on my computer for the past three hours... I can't put it down!!! My computer already seems more reliable, and I fixed little problems that I wasn't sure how to (i.e. The annoying send error file reports).
One of the great things about this was how explanatory it was... Although I knew what a lot of computer jargon means, I understood it after reading this book.
I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone looking to take care of their computer!

When you work or deal with young people, talking about computers
is a big challenge and most of the times you feel like a "dummie or an idiot". This forces you to run to Barnes & Noble or the local Library to end up more confused and frustrated not knowing which book to pick.
"The Healthy PC" is not as tedious as other computer books,
on the contrary once you start reading you will not stop, and if you follow the steps Carey recommends you'll feel very comfortable.
This is a great book, to bad he does not have any publications about hardware, but I understand his next book will be about "networking" available next year, I can't wait to buy it.

Wonderful book if you like vintage stories, especially of large innovative families.

There are a number of books related to this one, as well as movies connected as remakes of the books.

Belles on Their Toes, Cheaper by the Dozen, etc. are refreshing insights of life in the early 1900's.

especially for a sequel!

I found this book a couple years after I came across the first one as a teenager. It's a good continuation of the story and lets you know what happened, and how this amazing family all chipped in to make things work after their terrible tragedy.

This book continues the true story of the Gilbreth children or the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.
The story continues after the father died. The mother is now the soul supporter of her family. There is a graet saying in the book that says,"Mother wasn't afraid anymore because the worst had happend."
The mother carried on her husbands works. She held conferences and taught the scince of time saving. She became a very strong woman.
It was a long hard haul but ahe successfully continued her husbands work. The children successfully ran the household.
This story is humorus and very touching. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I can't believe I didn't know this book existed till very recently; I would have bought and read it a whole lot sooner had I known, having read the first book about five or six times. It's in the same funny spirit as the first, though the focus has shifted from the antics of the entire family to the mother's struggle to take care of her eleven children after her husband died. And the funny moments aren't as frequent as in the first book, since the children are older. It also seems like the younger children got the short end of the stick--less time was given to writing about their own humourous childhood anecdotes and stories, since time passes really quickly after Anne gets married. The only other thing in this book I wasn't keen on was how some of it was dated. Some of it, like Mrs. Gilbreth trying to find reasons for the oldest two not to smoke and then instantly retracting each reason, or the youngest boys teaching Jane how to be popular and get dates by not being her true self, is to be expected, given not only the era in which that happened but also when the book was published, but there are a few slang words and references that the modern reader might not understand or find as funny or relevant as someone who was a contemporary of the family might. We all know what a sheik is, but who uses the term "wet smack" anymore, for example? Still, overall it's a sweet fun way to wrap up the story of this funny family.

Being the first to rate this book below four stars I am sure I will receive an onslaught of rebuke. With that being said, I will further interject what is necessary and merely constructive criticism.

First, I will start with the positives. Carey guides you along a poetical path through time and existence in explaining the spiritual realm of life. He offers an announcement that is definitely beyond that of the orthodox thought. For anyone searching spirituality this book is a definitive read. It is quite intriguing to follow Carey through what seems as intuitive knowledge of the events of our past, from primordial to the subsequent, arriving periodically at what could be the prophetical future of existence. The book itself is quite indeed enlightening to both the subconscious and the conscious mind. You will feel the energy that emanates from the texts of Carey's book; it will consume you. It sheds quite the positive light upon what could be, in the near future, our ascent as enlightened beings. Due to the sedative effects of materialism we have be hindered in our awareness of the divination of ourselves. Albeit he does urge that there is a necessary balance between the two (the material world and spirit) for the prosperous outcome of our race.

By far the most provocative insertion in the book is Carey's prophecy of how after the beginning of the 21st century society will evolve into a mass awareness of ecological concern and along with that, the technology for the matter will be produced on a profound level. This indeed is happening now, and the concern is spreading now like wildfire and behind it comes the technology.

The book is in a narrative form not of Carey's annoucement (by his reference he was an instrument). Initially you are guided by what is a group and then at the fifteenth chapter you are addressed by a single entity. Carey does refer to the reason of such deviation, but it did not sooth me.

As an atheist to the Christian perspective, I was quite set aside by the reference to Christ and God on several occasions. Carey does, in the preface, exhort that the book does not pertain to any religion or denomination and is open for all whom are spiritual or seek spirituality. I agree with that to the extent that you set all of the God and Christ references to the side. Unfortunately, though you cannot evade the transmission of Carey's personal bias to God and Christ. While he does not himself identify that this is his position, you both feel it and see it. However, simultaneously he injects the script with what most Christian fundamentalist would call heresy. For instance, Carey (or the being or beings) transmits that we are eternal beings that are capable of reincarnation; we are not born sinners and living with that mentality is a destructive behavior to spirituality; the worship of false idols or gods is applicable to some Christian denominations; the Coming of Christ is that of mass conscious enlightenment and not that of destruction; organize religion is corrupt (at some establishments); the Garden of Eden is the spiritual perception of the world that is blocked by materialism; the Earth is alive and cognitive; and that God is as much in need of us as we are of him.

Where I became irritated and quite exhausted with the book is that Carey has a methodical way of replicating the same theme through varying metaphors. In the end, I felt more flagellated with a single metaphorical meaning conveyed through poetical reference existing in the book ubiquitously than enlighteningly informed of spirituality. By the tenth chapter I was able to emphatically agree with Carey that we were indeed evolving into this awareness and that a lot of individuals in the world are blinded by materialism. Unfortunately, that emphatical agreement moved from an ardor to a desolate penchant to acquire a residence at the end of the book due the repetition. After consuming the repetition of theme for 202 pages the message no longer fecundates you, but rather irritates you and loses your interest.

Really like the author... but haven't read this book... but expect to like this book.

Indeed, this is a book that must be read and understood. A simple reading reveals that it is truth incarnate. We must learn to relax and flow with the changes that are already upon us, because they are necessary for our complete evolution into spiritualized matter. What wonders will be wrought when matter becomes spiritualized! We will soon find out! Keep in mind that this book was written in 1991, yet its prophecies are already in fulfillment. Global warming is taking place, and the poles are indeed beginning their meltdown as the book suggests. Why? Because they must! As mankind begins his changes, the earth must respond likewise. As man is beginning to explore the realms that were once off limits to him because of his own isolating ideologies, the areas on earth that were once off limits are now becoming open to man as well. Non-fertile areas must become fertile as man begins to harvest from his spirtual center. The deserts are about to bloom, and nature is making those changes possible because of man's changing nature. Nature is responding to man, and will continue to respond to the positive loving responses that mankind was designed to have. Look at how nature is stumbling. She has always gone on the same old path dictated by the same old unenlightened orbit that mankind has travelled on for thousands of years. What has happened? What has confounded our good earth? The earth's wobble is no longer stable, weather patterns and weather behavior have become unpredictable. Why? Because the foundations that mankind have depended on are also changing and all of mankind is in an organized process of revolution to a new world. The earth is temporarily confused as to whether to continue with the old pattern, or begin the new. She has two groups of people pulling her in opposite directions! She is in travail! The new must take place, and our good earth will respond. She may groan temporarily as she changes, but change she must to adapt to the new gifts that are beginning to radiate from man. Growth is now exponential, so the wave is cresting ever higher on a daily basis. Even our animals and nature itself is changing. Look at how even the wild animals are looking to man for direction. The fear of man intrinsic in the wild animal is beginning to depart. The Garden of Eden is returning, and man's rightful place as a loving ruler of this creation is beginning to unfold. What must come next? It seems quite obvious that the next physical change that must occur is a magnetic pole shift. The magnetic force is already weakening as the postive forces returning to the Godhead are just about even with the forces of those stuck in self manufactured egos based upon survival. Once the magnetic poles shift, we know that the new leap into the new world has already taken place, and incredible changes will be forthcoming. Read the book for personal and spiritual insight. It is poetically written, and very easy to digest. It is time to ride the crest of the wave that you were designed to ride, and this book will bring it back to rememberence, lest you forget.

If reading how truly great you are and how everything is going to be truly great, this book is for you! But maybe one of his reasons Was to focus more on the positive?
I'm referring to black opps - on a global scale - of course. This May be a sign that something significant is around the bend.

How's about, "The comingling of planetary joy, human volition and the Star Maker's intent will swirl together in a unified whirlwind of love."

He generally seems to have reworded traditional (kabbalistic etc) terms and added a dose of new age sleep filler.

The paradox in all this, to me, is that we supposedly pass through our subconscious mind to access the superconscious...
Ken Wilber addressed this in his thoughts on pre and post egoic consciousness.
But neither of these authors address the findings concerning engineered artifacts Millions(+) of years old.

I can only imagine that we lost something along the way. This as to not having evolved enough...

But ultimately, we are talking Integration - as to cutting off or transcending aspects.

I also think he should've mentioned something about sexual energies. How to deal with This major force. It's These energies and polarities that run the universe.

But it still feels to be an uplifting book. This is an art you know.

What's funny for me is that in my days of shroom use, I basically experienced everything he wrote about. I indeed experienced this evolutionary leading edge... and that we are All on a cosmic Vector to something akin to godhood.
Won't bother with the infinitely darker experiences.

Of all the personal growth/spirituality books I've read in the past 30 years, this is the one I love the most. In a lucid and inspiring style I can only characterize as "poetic prose" I felt the influence of divine presence in every line of this beautiful book.

I've enjoyed several other books by Ken Carey, particularly "Starseed Transmissions" and "Flat Rock Journal". However, "The Third Millenium" takes the reader into a realm that feels both divine and yet eminently accessible in a way that far exceeds his other work. The message is poetic and reassuring. I found myself filled with a sense of awe, relief and pleasure just in the process of reading it.

Anything as profoundly inspiring as "The Third Millenium" most certainly draws on the energy of a consciousness that lies beyond our normal awareness. I treasure this book with a reverent heart.

A book that addresses a similar spiritual outlook with a completely different voice and in a more personalized style is
High Way from Hell: Using Emotion to Fan the Fire of Enlightment.

The GIMP is a powerful image manipulation package, provided under a free software license. It is very much the PhotoShop of the open source world. This book is an excellent introduction and tutorial to the GIMP's many powerful features. However, it is not intended to be a user manual. There is a separate and complete user manual for the GIMP available on the web. This book is also available on the web, and it is published under an open-source license - although cleverly they don't mention this in the paper copy itself. However useful it is to have the on-line copy, I cannot stress enough the quality and value in having a hard copy of this book.
Each chapter covers a different theme including layers, selections, masks, color spaces and blending, photo touchup and enhancement, compositing, rendering and web-based image production (including animated GIFs and imagemaps). The material is thoughtfully presented as a series of walkthrough examples.
The physical production of the book itself is very good. Every page is in full color and each chapter's start has a color flash at the edge of the page to allow you to easily locate it. The content has been equally well thought out. There is a very comprehensive index. At the end of each chapter is a list of FAQs correcting common misunderstandings about that chapter's subject. All diagrams are very clear and instructive.
My only gripe with the book is that there is no overview of the use of the standard toolbox of tools. I feel a simple explanation of how to use the various painting controls at the start of the book would have set the context for some of the later chapters on the image manipulation facilities of the GIMP, which indeed is the main thrust of the package.
It has been several years since a major book on the GIMP was published. What would be great would be a book that focuses more on programming and on plugins specifically - how to write them and a description of the ones currently in circulation. The next book set to be published on the GIMP, "Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional" is due to be released in April 2006. Until its arrival, this is still the only book on the GIMP worth reading.
For those of you interested in the vast amount of GIMP plug-in source code, just type "Koders Search GIMP" into Google. The first link in the resulting list is what you want. From there you can search through the folders and find the source for the many GIMP plug-ins.

I have read through a lot of this book and it has helped me tremendously in understanding the basic concepts and techniques for creating and manipulating digital images and graphics using the GIMP. Although it does not cover plug-ins in any great detail, it does lay a solid foundation for learning and using them in the future. Aside from that, almost every other conceivable topic is covered.

After I finish reading this book, I am confident that I will be able to read through (and understand) the many GIMP tutorials available online without difficulty. If you are looking for a good introduction to image manipulation and the GIMP, this book does not fail to deliver in any regard.

I have referenced the on-line version of this book several times and found several useful ideas and techniques out of it---especially those dealing with color correction and enhancement. However, there is no comparison to actually haveing physical pages to flip through and seeing the photos "in person". After reading through this book, several other Photoshop tutorials available make much more sense as well. My only complaint is that there is not much attention paid to any use of plugins or "advanced" clone tool techniques for repairing marred photographs without destroying the natural film grain etc. Also, some of the keybinding shortcust appear to have changed, and his examples using Layer masks did not always work for me as described in the book. Overall, though, purchasing this book is a great way to support open-source projects and learn a good deal about the Gimp as well.

I have searched high and low for a decent book on the Gimp. There are a several, good references ("Learning the Gimp in 24 Hours", "Essential Gimp for Web Developers", etc.) though many are out dated due to the rapid progress progress the developers. The Gimp, an excellent example of what open source cooperation produces, is well represented in this book. The author illustrates the use of the Gimp with clear diagrams, concise descriptions, and excellent examples of the Gimp's functionality. Apart from the official Gimp documentation, this book has served me well.

Exelent introduction to a complex subject. Still up-to-date as the fundementals apparently have not changed in 7 years. A few menus have changed slightly but I found this not a problem. This book appears to be out of print but you can download the HTML version and read it on your computer. You'll be trying out all the techniques while you read, so you just need an extra window for the text. I found the writing concise, the organization logical, and the examples helpful. You will find that the GIMP user manual also covers this material but does not really teach you what to do with it. It's not easy to learn--I've been doing photography for years so I thought I'd pick it up just fooling around with the software. It's not so easy!

Purchasing a Jacqueline Carey book is an investment that always pays off in hours of enjoyment and delight. Kushiel's Mercy is the third book of a trilogy and concluded the series in a very satisfying way. Carey's beautiful use of language brings the characters to life in a way that delights. Highly recommended: it's sexy, intelligent, and deliciously written.

Kushiel's Mercy ends the saga that Jacqueline Care started in her very first book. Yes it is sad to see end, but it couldn't have ended any better. Her main theme being in all the books love as thou wilt comes to life in such an epic manner. All that challenges that Imeril has to go through to win over his love, to rescue her, and even make her fall in love with him again. Everything that he gives to get her back, and everything he almost loses. Yes it does have action in and sorcery, like one would expect from a fantasy, but in the end it is a love story about a man who love a woman so much he would give anything to be with her and see her safe. And that is why it is one of her best books. Because in the end it is a love story that conveys her message of love as thou wilt. And that is a message that we can all learn from.

As I knew I would, I thoroughly enjoyed Jacqueline Carey's third and final book in the second Kushiel's trilogy. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the book was tempered by the... as usual... horrendous service by UPS. I paid for overnight shipping that took OVER A WEEK, and when it finally DID get here, my MAILMAN brought it to my door; apparently, the idiot UPS delivery driver left it at my mailbox, BY THE STREET.

Amazon was gracious enough to refund my shipping costs, but until Amazon adds other fast shipping options BESIDES UPS (I don't care if it's more expensive, I just want my products here when I pay for them to be here), I don't think I'll be ordering fast shipping again.

Thanks, Amazon, for trying to help. UPS, you suck.

Very well written like all the others in the Kushiel line. Still hooked and wanting more.

Well, I've been waiting for nearly 12 months for this book. I really didn't know what to expect so I had no preconceptions about the plot. I was desperate to find out how the problem of Melisande would be resolved and looked forward to finding out what Machiavellian plot Carey would think up. In the previous 5 books this has been what I enjoyed most - the political machinations, the wicked characters who show no remorse when their actions result in thousands of deaths, the roguish characters who turn out to be loyal, brave and trustworthy and help the hero or heroine save the day.

Did I get any of this? Barely. The main plotline regarding the magic spell was cheap and tawdry. If you think back to Darsanga, the 'magic' there was more spiritual in its origin (albeit from an evil source) but the Carthaginian magic is of the Derren Brown variety. It just feels like a cheap stage trick.

Where was the exciting resolution of the problem with Melisande? This felt like a cop-out rather than the ironic twist that it was presented as.

I know Carey has tried to bring in certain incidents and scenarios to 'echo' events in previous books. This is brave but doesn't really work - it just feels like we are getting recycled storylines that are less convincing the second time around.

Although I feel this book falls way short of the standard of the previous 5 books it was still a good read. I loved the bit where Imriel is being someone else - the writing here is exciting and innovative and explores new topics. My favourite character of the whole book is Kratos - he is solid, dependable, calm and surprisingly intelligent.

So, I know a lot of you will disagree with my comments but I felt I had to offer an alternative view in the midst of the glowing praise as my experience was less wonderful. I too would enjoy a new series on Terre D'Ange set a few hundred years later - I feel sure that new characters would revitalise Carey's view of this world.

Was a little too much for a beginner. But gave me lots of good ideas that I will try when I become more experienced in Kumihimo. Beautiful pictures in the book. Great as a reference text, but do not use if you are trying to learn.

This was the first book I purchased on this subject. I have to admit it was not easy getting started, but the book became my "bible". I am now creating leads for show dogs using this skill. They are selling very well and I can hardly keep up with my orders. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wishing to gain a good background in working with Kumihimo.

This is an excellent resource for kumihimo. Condition was as stated, shipping was speedy. A great transaction. Thanks!

I'm very pleased with this book. It has all the braiding patterns I'll need for a good while, and the instructions are easy to follow and the illustrations are clear. This is not a book about the history and all that; it's just patterns, which is what I was after.

This is an excellent guide to braiding. the illustrations are very clear and the instructions easy to follow. I strongly recommend it.