Forrest Books

This book is for professional philosophers, which is a shame because its topic, the existence of God, is obviously one that interests many people. However, because of the occurrence in it of many technical terms (such as "Bayesian" and "side constraints") that receive no or very little explanation, this book would have to double in length in order to be accessible to the general public. I took a star off of its rating because of this.

Most of the argumentation in this book is directed at the belief of many atheists that the universe is self-explanatory. Forrest argues that the best explanation for many features of our universe (for example, that it is life-friendly and that consciousness exists in it) is that there is a personal God. I had only some minor quibbles about this section of the book.

The last chapter of the book is devoted to arguing that the existence of evil is consistent with the existence of God, and his argument breaks down in this chapter, for which I took off another star. He claims that God's doing nothing about evil is justified if we are eventually given compensation for this (the compensation being eternal bliss) and if it would be irrational to reject this compensation.

However, imagine that you wake up one morning in a hospital bed, minus a kidney. During the night, it seems, the authorities trundled you off to the hospital and took out your kidney for the sake of someone else who desperately needed it. To compensate you for this outrage, you will be awarded a billion dollars.

Maybe you would agree that this was adequate compensation; then again, maybe you wouldn't. But whether you agreed or disagreed, and whether it is rational to agree or irrational to agree, the fact remains that what the authorities did to you was morally wrong. The compensation given to you, even if you agree to it (or even if it would be irrational for you not to agree to it), at best only excuses those who did this. It in no way justifies them. If it did justify them, then this sort of thing would be allowed, which it isn't. Accordingly, Forrest's attempt to explain why God does nothing about evil doesn't work.

Lop off the last chapter and make the rest of the book intelligible to the general public, and this would be a much more enjoyable book.

My copy of the book is actually an authorised facsimile made from the master copy of the original work.

From the title & sub-title, readers can more or less judge what the book is all about, but I find the whole book to be too sketchy even for lay persons, although the author is targetting the book at engineers.

Frankly, the only thing I like about the book is the Ingenuity Quotient Test at the end of the book. It is not a serious test but it is good fun to take, as it is designed to test your interest in & attitude toward invention.

Overall the various short chapters run as follows:

1. Creative Thinking
2. Use Your Intuition & Imagination
3. Prepare Yourself for Inventing
4. Why learn to Invent?
5. Your First Invention - A System
6. Patent Laws You Should Know
7. Footnote to Invention

For readers who are serious about inventing, please go for 'Eureka! The Book of Inventing', by Bob Symes & Robin Boothe, which is jam-packed with useful advice & fascinating ideas for the novice inventor!.

While I do like the written story of the two books, I am a little disappointed that there is no actual beginning to this (mini ??) series. There should have been a starting point telling the circumstances that lead up to where the first book starts out. References are made to the past with nothing to help carry the story. Also the main characters just seem to pop up from nowhere, with very little or no background along with a few important characters in the story. A pre-quell would be a help, but, a little late. I hope that this writer can/will put a better ending (Book) to this series, instead of dropping it as it now stands.

This book at times reads at an advanced level, but for the most part is fairly well written. The only real major complaint i have, is that it did not address anything on peer-peer networks. I will be using this book to prepare for my MCP in windows.

On the eve of her Richmond wedding, Henrietta Hanson is abducted by a mysterious stranger. But by dawn she recognizes her captor. The years have changed a boy into a man...a man who looks like a Viking warrior but lives like the Comanche who raised him. Once, Henrietta found sanctuary in his friendship, but now Silverbird is her enemy. Somehow, she must escape-before his burning embrace melts all her resistance. Silverbird has come to return Henrietta to her father-only to discover that the spirited Texas girl he'd known has matured into a stunning, self-possessed beauty no man can resist. Now, on their perilous journey through a sun-scorched land, his biggest challenge will be to win Henrietta's trust with a passion strong enough to erase the past-and a love that will flame brightly for the rest of their lives. This book would have been better if Henrietta wasn't such a brat. It's her fault they get into all the trouble they do. She really just got on my nerves.

Not an alien, not an android, not a mutant, not a demigod, no powered armour, no mutilated parents driving her to become a dark avenger.

Nope, Supergran gets her powers the good old fashioned accidental way, and sets up to protect the town from the odd dastardly nogoodnik. Complete with the odd kid helper, of course.

I received this book as a gift, or I definitely would never have purchased it. It is lacking any sense of direction, as other reviews illustrate here, with obvious misses present: "The Birds", "Rosemary's Baby", "The Invisible Man", "The Black Cat"(1934), "Island of Lost Souls", "Jaws", "Curse of the Demon"(aka-Night of the Demon), "The Fearless Vampire Killers...", "Haxan-Witchcraft Through the Ages", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "Them!", "The Exorcist"(I'm surprised the horror geeks aren't rattling their cages about this one alone). Maybe "Psycho" wouldn't be found in a 'Monster Movie Guide', but why is "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" present and, yet, not Ridley Scott's "Alien" or its sequels? It is also very difficult to follow, with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" under "M" for just "Meet Frankenstein"(perhaps this was an original title or something, but, in all the guides I've ever seen, it's always been under A & C's names), with no explanation here for why Jones uses this title. Although, on the other hand, there are several early silent versions of lots of the classic monsters-as, for example, several "Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde" versions included that predate even John Barrymore's turn as the part in 1920! Also, there are obscure but relatively important TV notations that are, often, well worth the look-as "Nightmare the Birth of Horror"(although the title actually was "Nightmare! The Birth of Victorian Horror"). These are a great find, if one can locate this BBC miniseries on the genesis of the books and characters of the classic gothic monsters-ie. Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", Bram Stoker's "Dracula". These are a must-see for any true fan. Now, different, and refreshing, are the more subjective descriptions of film titles, with Jones using his own point of view as opposed to the standard run-of-the-mill descriptions. The downside, here, though, is that his "taste" is often lacking. I don't consider myself a fan of any particular date or style from the horror genre, but to critique FW Murnau's silent vampire film, "Nosferatu"-which is brilliant-as "overlong and dull", with a rating of above average(???), and the plodding British Hammer "Dracula(aka-Horror of Dracula)" of 1958 as having an "action-packed script"(I guess I apparently looked away for a moment), adding that it's only "a little slow in places", are simply a couple examples of Jones' consistancy for ludicrous assessments. Buyer beware: do yourself a favor and find this one used-or as cheaply as possible-and get the recent Leonard Maltin Movie Guide(released yearly, the newest has only just been released). This guide will give better direction and explanation, on a much more realistic and objective level, than Jones' book. Even Maltin's guide is not perfect, but the information is deeper(without Jones' obvious mistakes) and the ratings are much more realistic. Basically, just protect yourself from wasting time and money on one of Jones' favorites when it's really a clunker. "Creature Features" looks like a more interesting purchase, but not owning it, I won't judge. Both it and Jones' book offer obscure TV, though, with titles crossing over, like the BBC "Count Dracula" with Louis Jourdan, for example.

i did a fast skimming through this book and noticed that for an Essential Monster Movie Guide, it certainly doesn't praise or hype the genre that well. this book comes across like it was written by an elitist who's too good for horror. nearly every movie/special gets a low rating and i can't understand why a book like this that could've been a good companion to the horror fan would be so anti-horror as a whole. horror fans, in general, want to be be entertained and or scared...i for one don't want logical stories and things that make sense IF it detracts from the entertainment factor because typically what makes sense and uses logic in horror is BORING. it gets 2 stars from me because it offers a diverse selection of films and includes mini biographies of horror legends like Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, etc. But for a horror movie book, the writers certainly didn't help their genre by bad-mouthing it so much in this book.

This is a mess. It's difficult to imagine who this is aimed at. There's far too little information to use it as a 'what to watch' guide for the casual viewer. Horror fans will find their blood boiling as cult classics are panned while borderline mainstream dreck enjoys generous appraisal. Many masterpieces simply aren't there while a worryingly large number of nominally horror-based porn and kids cartoon shows take their place. Most of these aren't easily available, I get the impression the author hasn't seen a lot of them, and I can't imagine many horror fans wanting to anyhow. No 'Masque of the Red Death'? Don't worry, here's a few episodes of 'The Flintstones' featuring Count Rockula! Bizarre.

Maybe it started out as an attempt to be definitive, then gave up as deadlines loomed. Who knows? Stephen Jones - at least I assume this is the same author - has penned numerous books and articles on the horror genre, but judging by this, has burnt out on monsters somewhere along the line. Which is fair enough, but expecting those who still relish all things creepy and ghoulish to put up with this limp effort is not. Very poor and faintly insulting to the genre it attempts, and conspicuously fails to cover.

Besides the fact that Stephen Jones sounds like he is not a big fan of the genre, his "comprehensive" volume excludes a large number of horror movies for the sake of including way too many "erotic" horror movies and horror cartoons. The fact that he has a low opinion of some of the most popular horror movies of all time is annoying, but I realize everyone is entitled to their opinion. There are instances, too, where I have read his synopsis of a movie and it appears, to me, that he clearly hadn't seen the movie. Even though this is one of the very few horror movie guides available, I can't recommend it.

What's missing from this book?

Well, Rosemary's Baby, Evil Dead, The Shining, Suspiria, the Godizilla films and countless other classics.

What will you find?

Well, Nude Nasty Dripping Wet Vampires, Cleopatra Queen of Bondage, the Rocky Porno Video Show, and the ever popular horror film: The Sexual Life of Frankenstein. At one point, a review even laments the fact that a movie doesn't have any sex in it! Perhaps, he should write a porn guide since that seems to be his main interest. He certainly doesn't like horror all that much.

Oh and he includes such other popular 'horror' classics as: Three Men and a Little Lady, 21 Jump Street, Porky's II, and The Monkees (?!)

The sad part is, Mr. Jones went more into detailed descriptions with the hardcore and the 'nothing to do with horror' movies and tv shows, than with the real horror movies. Get this from the library for a hoot, but don't spend money on it.

Characters nicely development; believable story; good fast read; suspenseful. I think it would make a great movie. There could be a sequel.

Suspense and fear. Imagine everything you hold dear is in danger and you cannot trust anyone...UGH! Well written. Had me at the first page, then it was suddenly 4am and I was still reading.

This could have been a good book - the basic premise isn't bad, and the pacing is excellent. However, the dialogue is ridiculous and the technical details nonexistent - "assault weapon" does not paint a picture for me - tell me this intimidating gang member is pointing an *Ingram Mac 11 9mm submachine gun* at the man's wife! The protagonist is, after all, a VIDEO GAME DESIGNER, the sort of weenie who would have used that very same gun in his big hit, DOOM ROOM.

The writer takes himself and the subject far too seriously for his own good. He does not have enough of a grasp of the subject matter to write a serious book about the realities of inner city gangs, kidnapping and hostage situations etc, and should have either done more research on his subject or written a farce - since the book ends up coming off like one unintentionally. Leave realism to people who have been there - Andy McNab's excellent "Remote Control" is an example of what this book could have been with more competent writing and research.

Mr. Evers, as the old saying goes, "write what you know." Guns, gangs and games you definitely do not.

Kathie Lee seems to be a very involved mother. She is not afraid to discuss Cody's bowel functions in detail. Everything about Cody is cute. Every detail. A must have book!

Poor Kathie Lee. Her book is designed to show us that she is such a sweet kind loving attentive mother. If you read the book with any degree of attention, you will see that she is a very disturbed woman, and that dear little Cody is well on his way to serial-killerdom.

This book has new improved higher rseolution photos. Covers seventy years of Mr. Sci-Fi and Dr. Acula's friends, travels, and history in the sf and horror movie field.

This is actually a nice photo record of Forrest Ackerman's visit to our planet - 70+ years and counting. Problem is, a number of the photos are poorly reproduced, and from what I could tell, not because of the originals. I still recommend it though if your a die hard Ackerfan.

Photos are terrible quality. I can not believe Forry would allow his name to be associated with such a poor effort.

I love Forry to death and was looking foward to an incredible archive of photos. What is in this book are horrible scans. First off the cover of the book was not printed at 300 dpi and lines are all jagged and blurry. The photos inside are barely visible. I'm shocked that Forry let this out being a publisher himself.